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A couple of days ago I picked up the Kingdoms of Legend World Guide from Interaction Point Games. I've had a chance to read it and enjoy the map I also bought, and I'm giving my opinions.
Overall, very nice. Rather than putting out a big hardback with a ton of detail, the book is 32 pages long, with a map of Europe on the inside front cover and a chart of the various pantheons on the inside back cover. Minimalism is the selling point here. Since the setting is Europe in 1415 CE the assumption is that all the really cool details like the coat of arms of the Elector of Bavaria can be found in private research. The authors just need to give a broad overview.
The first chapter is a loose overview of the history, starting with the spread of humans out of the Fertile Crescent into areas occupied by the Elder Races, the Elves, Dwarfs, Gnomes, and Halflings. The next big event is The Fall. The 12 deities of the Elder Races vanished, replaced by 12 new gods closely aligned with the Humans. One nice feature is you can still be a cleric of one of The Fallen, but you need a relic to cast divine magic. There is a third set of deities, the Primordials, and a singular God of Death not associated with any pantheon. The chapter also explores recent history. 1415 is within a few generations of the Black Death. It's an "edge", one of those times when society is in flux and a time when heroes can seize the day and change the course of nations. You also have the Hundred Years War going on, the Reconquista in Iberia, the Golden Horde in Russia.. all sorts of adventures. I really like what they did with Rome. Lacking Christianity and the Catholic Church, Rome is home to the Collegio Arcanum, the premier school of magic in the known world. What we think of as the Papal States in our world is the Republic of the Archmage here, with a College of Mages replacing the Cardinals. It's a good drop in, as you can see where having the favor of the Mage Guild would be as important to the nobles of this world as having the Pope's blessing was to Philip IV.
Chapter 2 covers the races. Along with descriptions of the status of the stock Pathfinder races, we get new half-races for the dwarfs and gnomes. Interestingly, the concept is that not all of the "halfs" are a result of sexual unions, but instead come due to the older races turning to the new gods and abandoning the old ways. Sort of a "Minbari souls in human bodies" thing. Adds a sense of pathos to the older species, as they can see their doom coming. They are dying physically and spiritually. This is a note you don't see very often in a RPG setting. Chapter 3 addresses the classes, showing where you'd be likely to find them and which deities they'd be likely to follow.
The fourth chapter made me tear up. I was moved. I wrote an epic poem in its honor. Chapter 4 covers languages in a realistic way. Literacy is not assumed for all classes. Most people are illiterate. Languages are broken up by family and region. There's a Linguistics skill described.Literacy as actually a Feat, along with Multilingual which gives you four additional languages. There is a table of language families, and a listing of languages with regional notes and example names.
The final chapter is a gazetteer of states. States are identified by Capital and large settlements (with their populations), total population, racial make-up, Ruler, government type, languages, and religion, followed by a paragraph or two on the state and its current issue. At the end is a "places of interest" section featuring curious sites both real and fictional.. Prospero's Island is among the listed sites.
All in all, you get a lot for the $12.99 price. This is a playable setting from the start, and with a little research you can detail an area and have a fantastic game. The advantage to playing in a loose version of real history is you have a plot waiting for you. The book is well-written and the art is good. I noticed no typos or glaring errors. Five penguins.
Oh, my meddling? For some reason the states that would by Islamic in our world are listed as being devotees of Serapis, God of Death. This makes no sense. My change? Mohamed stumbled upon a lost temple of The Fallen, and was charged by these deities to restore them to glory by overthrowing the new gods. Armed with divine fury, the Prophet followed the course history gives him, driving to find and recover Fallen temples and artifacts. Gives a little more plot, I think
Overall, very nice. Rather than putting out a big hardback with a ton of detail, the book is 32 pages long, with a map of Europe on the inside front cover and a chart of the various pantheons on the inside back cover. Minimalism is the selling point here. Since the setting is Europe in 1415 CE the assumption is that all the really cool details like the coat of arms of the Elector of Bavaria can be found in private research. The authors just need to give a broad overview.
The first chapter is a loose overview of the history, starting with the spread of humans out of the Fertile Crescent into areas occupied by the Elder Races, the Elves, Dwarfs, Gnomes, and Halflings. The next big event is The Fall. The 12 deities of the Elder Races vanished, replaced by 12 new gods closely aligned with the Humans. One nice feature is you can still be a cleric of one of The Fallen, but you need a relic to cast divine magic. There is a third set of deities, the Primordials, and a singular God of Death not associated with any pantheon. The chapter also explores recent history. 1415 is within a few generations of the Black Death. It's an "edge", one of those times when society is in flux and a time when heroes can seize the day and change the course of nations. You also have the Hundred Years War going on, the Reconquista in Iberia, the Golden Horde in Russia.. all sorts of adventures. I really like what they did with Rome. Lacking Christianity and the Catholic Church, Rome is home to the Collegio Arcanum, the premier school of magic in the known world. What we think of as the Papal States in our world is the Republic of the Archmage here, with a College of Mages replacing the Cardinals. It's a good drop in, as you can see where having the favor of the Mage Guild would be as important to the nobles of this world as having the Pope's blessing was to Philip IV.
Chapter 2 covers the races. Along with descriptions of the status of the stock Pathfinder races, we get new half-races for the dwarfs and gnomes. Interestingly, the concept is that not all of the "halfs" are a result of sexual unions, but instead come due to the older races turning to the new gods and abandoning the old ways. Sort of a "Minbari souls in human bodies" thing. Adds a sense of pathos to the older species, as they can see their doom coming. They are dying physically and spiritually. This is a note you don't see very often in a RPG setting. Chapter 3 addresses the classes, showing where you'd be likely to find them and which deities they'd be likely to follow.
The fourth chapter made me tear up. I was moved. I wrote an epic poem in its honor. Chapter 4 covers languages in a realistic way. Literacy is not assumed for all classes. Most people are illiterate. Languages are broken up by family and region. There's a Linguistics skill described.Literacy as actually a Feat, along with Multilingual which gives you four additional languages. There is a table of language families, and a listing of languages with regional notes and example names.
The final chapter is a gazetteer of states. States are identified by Capital and large settlements (with their populations), total population, racial make-up, Ruler, government type, languages, and religion, followed by a paragraph or two on the state and its current issue. At the end is a "places of interest" section featuring curious sites both real and fictional.. Prospero's Island is among the listed sites.
All in all, you get a lot for the $12.99 price. This is a playable setting from the start, and with a little research you can detail an area and have a fantastic game. The advantage to playing in a loose version of real history is you have a plot waiting for you. The book is well-written and the art is good. I noticed no typos or glaring errors. Five penguins.
Oh, my meddling? For some reason the states that would by Islamic in our world are listed as being devotees of Serapis, God of Death. This makes no sense. My change? Mohamed stumbled upon a lost temple of The Fallen, and was charged by these deities to restore them to glory by overthrowing the new gods. Armed with divine fury, the Prophet followed the course history gives him, driving to find and recover Fallen temples and artifacts. Gives a little more plot, I think
