Anyone have this (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=7554)? Sounds really useful campaign creation and worldbuilding.
I couldn't find any reviews on it, aside from one brief RPGNow rating. :(
Quote100 Kingdoms presents 100, individual fantasy countries for your use in your own fantasy-based games.- Great for worldbuilding.
- Great for game inspiration.
- Great for adding new twists to existing gameworlds.
- Good accompaniment for 100 Fantasy Adventure Seeds (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=516&products_id=2433&).
Each 'Kingdom' is provided for with a single page description consisting of an overview, an examination of the rulership, the general geography and a scattering of adventure seeds to get you started.
This is a generic product suitable for most fantasy games.
Unless I'm mistaken, GRIM on these boards is the author.
Other than that, no, never seen it.
Quote from: Caesar SlaadUnless I'm mistaken, GRIM on these boards is the author.
Other than that, no, never seen it.
(Checks)
Postmortem...why yes, yes he is.
Paging Mr.GRIM, paging Mr.GRIM...
Jim Desborough?!
I love you man!
Feast of Crows totally rocks!
Yay for Grim!!!
Yes, that'd be me!
Sorry, been MMORPGing all day (I know, I know, but all my old group are having 'babies' and things lately...)
How can I help?
Right, 100 Kingdoms, well, it follows the same format as my other '100' books.
You get a brief introduction (briefer in this case than the other '100' books) and then you get 100 pages, each page giving a brief overview of a potential fantasy kingdom, some info about it and some plot ideas. This is by NO means exhaustive info but as with the other '100' books it is designed more to be a spur to the GMs own creativity and ideas when you get stuck.
Some of things kingdom ideas are fairly generic, others are more outlandish but they all have possible twists and turns to make them more interesting. Obviously, being a generic product 100 Kingdoms is more suited to your standard D&D type world, with a bit of kitbashing you can fit the ideas into anything else.
There's no interior illustrations in this one though I'm afraid, I decided to put more text in instead, but the cover is exquisite!
Let me post an example page for you...
009 – Forest Dominion
Description
Arborea is a kingdom of the great northern forests, built into the trees and rock itself it is a kingdom of platforms and huts but also of larger trees trained and shaped to form chambers and 'caves' of living wood in which the temples and the greatest building of this forest domain are situated.
Arborea is not a kingdom of elves however; it is a kingdom of men, druids and keepers of the earth. Men of the wild, not the serenity of the elven forest dwellings but rather the natural, forceful, irrepressible force of life that is the true, untended forest.
Arborea lives from nature's bounty, not from farming but from the fruits of a grateful forest and the venerated creatures who give up their lives to support the city. It is hidden, overgrown brambles and thick ivy hiding it from plain sight and it is truly of the green.
Rulers
Arborea is firmly under the sway of its druids. The circle of druids maintains the sacred grove, channels the power of the green and it is through their intercession with nature that Arborea survives. Arborea has no true rules though, only taboos and punishments, many of which are sacrifice in the sacred grove for the most offensive of taboo breaking acts.
Beneath the druids are the family heads, each tree or grove houses an extended family of people, those who serve as protectors and servants to the sacred groves and hunters and warriors to protect Arborea. The warriors and hunters are held in good standing but there is little inequality here as femininity is venerated simply by virtue of what it is.
There are occasional squabbles amongst the druids who rules, sometimes one of them will turn to dark magic, becoming a despoiler rather than a protector of the woods or going truly feral, turning red in tooth and claw and running with the animals but by and large Arborea persists, unhindered, undiscovered, lost in the deep woods.
Geography
Arborea is built around the central sacred grove, a stand of gigantic trees that form a circle, their branches intertwined and grown together. Around this grove, 'orbiting' the central trees are smaller groves, circles around central trees, the central trees hollow, the family temples to the green, the surrounding trees interlaced with platforms, huts and ropes allowing each extended family to maintain their own 'treetop fort'.
The greater forest around them teems with wild beasts, many of them gigantic, all of them eyes, ears and noses for Arborea as well as soldiers if necessary. Bears and wolves, eagles and insects all part of the forest, all part of Arborea.
Beyond the forest itself, at its fringes, there civilisation reasserts itself but the nature of the forest and the myths of Arborea make anything but its thinner edges and offshoots a place of terror for those who live near it.
Stories
One of the druids has turned feral and left Arborea, enraged by increased woodcutting and incursions into the sacred forest. In the form of an animal and with other animals at his beck and call he has turned the wrath of the forest into animal raiders, attacking and devouring border villages, replacing them with fresh woodland.
Something is eating up the forest, a dark power descending from the north bringing with it ice and snow that kills the trees and turns them rotten. The people of Arborea emerge from the forest agonised and bewildered, needing allies to help return their home to them.
An airship has come down, deep in the forest, carrying someone of great importance and a rich cargo to boot. To overcome the fear the forest invokes in so many people a handsome reward is being offered, even enough to account for much of the value of the lost cargo should anyone think fencing it on the black market might be a more profitable idea. Of course, there's still the forest itself to deal with.
Quote from: SettembriniJim Desborough?!
I love you man!
Feast of Crows totally rocks!
Yay for Grim!!!
Thanks Settembrini.
How's it worked out for you? I did quite a bit of playtesting but not quite as much as I would have liked (some freelance work got in the way). I was worried when I put it out that the calculations and so on were a bit arcane, but I still preferred it to the other mass combat systems out on the market.
Bump for feedback and more praise to boost my ego ;)
That sounds like it would be really handy for worldbuilding inspiration. I don't suppose you know of anyone who's done a review of it, or if that's one of the ones Pundit will be covering? (I like to be an informed buyer).
Quote from: Zachary The FirstThat sounds like it would be really handy for worldbuilding inspiration. I don't suppose you know of anyone who's done a review of it, or if that's one of the ones Pundit will be covering? (I like to be an informed buyer).
I seem to have a hard time getting my stuff reviewed. I think it's because my stuff is all over the place thematically and conceptually (one day I'm working on gritty modern horror, the next I'm doing something light and frivolous). 100 Kingdoms has been submitted for review to this site. I'm hoping the process of actually getting stuff visibly reviewed will be easier here than on RPGnet.
Quote from: GRIMI seem to have a hard time getting my stuff reviewed. I think it's because my stuff is all over the place thematically and conceptually (one day I'm working on gritty modern horror, the next I'm doing something light and frivolous). 100 Kingdoms has been submitted for review to this site. I'm hoping the process of actually getting stuff visibly reviewed will be easier here than on RPGnet.
Actually, I review products both at my site (see sig, I've got a pretty good readership level going on) and RPGnet (plus my site is syndicated on their Press & News page). I'm more of an RPGer than a gamer at large, but if you're having trouble getting RPG stuff reviewed, I'd be more than happy to help out. I do my best to be as descriptive, thorough, and impartial as I can.
I should have the review of 100 Kingdoms posted in the next day or two.
I read all the way through it lastnight and I'll give it a second look tonight and write the review.
Joe Wolz- will have the review of Bloodsuckers done today or wed.
Quote from: McrowI should have the review of 100 Kingdoms posted in the next day or two.
I read all the way through it lastnight and I'll give it a second look tonight and write the review.
Joe Wolz- will have the review of Bloodsuckers done today or wed.
Fantastic! Glad to see you guys already charging ahead with the reviews section.