The name's Davenport. I review games.

So the other day I'm sittin' at my desk goin' through my review copies, when I hear a knock.

At the window.

I go check it out, and what do I see there? A lizard-man ridin' a brontosaurus.

Now, as it happens, this wasn't all that unexpected. See, I'd just recently wrapped up a Torg Eternity gig, and I knew that a sourcebook for the Living Land, their prehistoric reality, would be comin' down the pike pretty soon.

Speakin' of pikes, the lizard guy had a nasty-looking plant-spear in one hand. Fortunately, he had the sourcebook in the other.

"So," I says as the lizard guy climbed through the window, "I gotta tell ya, I've been lookin' forward to this one. The old Living Land didn't do much for me, but the new one with its Law of Wonders sounds like everything but the kitchen sink can show up there."

"There issss no kitchen ssssink," Mr. Lizard agrees, "but there issss a refrigerator."

A fridge in the Living Land? This I had to see...

Substance

Welcome to the Living Land

Some setting fiction and a general overview of the book. The former had me rolling my eyes at the Storm Knight expressing surprise at seeing a dinosaur in the Living Land, but it's otherwise fine.

One Year Later...

As the name implies, this chapter brings the timeline up to a year after the initial invasion.

The chapter begins by covering the basics of the Living Land, a lush and vibrant dinosaur-haunted primordial world of low technological, social, and magical axioms, but with stunning levels of spiritual power.

The section mentions that Lanala, the Living Land's goddess, is literally real, and that the tenets of her faith, Keta Kalles, have been perverted by the Living Land's High Lord, Baruk Kaah. Oddly, the section also illustrates the spiritual power commanded by Baruk Kaah with the earthquake miracle he invoked to destroy Seattle. That's fine, but if he's acting against Lanala's will, why is she answering his prayers, and in such spectacular fashion? This would seem to run counter to the way miracles are supposed to work in the game, yet the text doesn't even mention the issue.

The chapter next details the state of the war against the Living Land in Canada, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States. The section brims with interesting details, from the utter collapse of the Mexican government (and corresponding rise of drug cartels in the power vacuum) to the uncertainty regarding an upcoming election in the U.S. when massive areas are in enemy hands. The text does a great job of explaining what's happening where and why.

One of the highlights of the chapter is the discussion of the reaction of Earth's religions to Keta Kalles. Interestingly, Christians, Muslims, and atheists are united in their rejection of the faith and its miracles, whereas pagans, New Agers, and some Native Americans have embraced Lanala as a true "Earth Mother".

The chapter also touches on the nature of humans transformed to the Living Land's reality. It seems that unlike in original Torg, transformed humans do not become Neanderthals, but they do regress to a caveman-like life.

Finally, the chapter features a helpful timeline of the first 365 days of the Living Land invasion.

Storm Knights

This chapter focuses on new Perks appropriate for Living Land characters. Of particular note is the fact that the book introduces Beta Clearance (50+ XP) Perks.

Edeinos

This section offers Perks reflecting some variations on the edeinos species, including water-breathers, poison-eating berserkers, and individuals with Predator-like camouflage. There's even a Perk that negates the usual Outsider penalty suffered by edeinos, making the species more playable than ever.

Faith

Given the Spiritual axiom of the Living Land, it's only fitting that this book feature new Faith Perks. Highlights include Blessed Weapon (a primitive supernatural weapon), Gotak (Keta Kalles priest of death), and Optant (Keta Kalles priest of life). The latter two give some idea of how Torg Eternity will handle Faith Perks specific to individual religions.

Savagery

The chapter features a number of interesting Perks powered by the Law of Savagery. In addition to Perks that boost the character's physical capabilities, the section allows for several types of animal companion: velociraptor, pterodactyl, and (at Beta Clearance) sabre-tooth tiger. There's even a Perk allowing the character to easily climb and swing from vines, Tarzan-fashion. Good stuff.

Prowess

Here the chapter offers three any-cosm Perks that particularly suit the Living Land: Poison Tolerance, Smasher (ignoring Unwieldy penalties on weapons), and Sprinter. Nothing earth-shattering, but nice.

Social

Given the cosm's low Social Axiom, Social Perks might seem a strange inclusion. Nevertheless, this section covers two Social Perks that target individuals from a Social Axiom of eight or less: One allowing for easy multi-targeting with intimidation, and one that makes the character more attractive to animals and primitive individuals.

Miracles

Unsurprisingly, the book devotes a good-sized chapter to miracles. What is surprising is the fact that the chapter includes miracle lists for two human faiths associated with the Living Land: Los Asangrados (a new and bloody Aztec/Mayan influenced practice) and Neo Shaman.

I like the fact that Living Land natives with sufficient faith can invoke five specific miracles without the Miracles Perk, highlighting the impact of spirituality on the cosm.

Not only is the size of the list -- over 20 -- fairly impressive, but the content is as well. In particular, I appreciate the Invoke Lanala miracle, which literally causes an avatar of the goddess to appear, perchance to grant a supplicant's request.

Gear

Equipment wouldn't seem to be much of a factor in a primitive world like the Living Land. That, however, doesn't factor in the influence of the high Spirit Axiom, the amazing bounty of nature, and the out-of-cosm supplies available in Core Earth. Accordingly, this chapter features miracle-shaped weapons and armor of plant or bone, sacred items, poisons, primitive and modern survival equipment and travel modes, riding beasts, and even insectoid spiritual "power armor".

In a nod to the unique nature of the setting, the chapter features simple rules for barter and foraging.

Warzones

Here the book takes a more thorough look at the state of the Living Land on multiple fronts: the East Coast, the Gulf Coast, the Midwest, the North, the West Coast, and even the caverns that riddle the Living Land. The chapter helpfully provides a list of common threats in all of the areas detailed.

Along the way, the text briefly re-introduces Merretika from the first edition's Land Below, here appearing as a sort of safe haven for those fleeing Baruk Kaah's forces that's nevertheless fully integrated into the Living Land. I'm not sure how I feel about Merretika having the Living Land's axioms, as I was a fan of the world featuring magic. It's a moot point, though, as there's really not enough here to make use of Merretika. For that, you'll need The God Box adventure.

Another nice touch is a sidebar addressing Nightmare Trees, which create Orrorsh Zones wherever they appear. Here, the text discusses the affects a Nightmare Tree can have on the Living Land, including even herbivorous dinosaurs thriving on a diet of human flesh.

A separate sidebar discusses the confounding fog known as the Deep Mist, which is thankfully no longer omnipresent as it was in the first edition. Traveling to the Living Land is no longer an exercise in getting lost.

Reality

This chapter focuses on the elements that make the Living Land tick: the Axioms and World Laws. Some of the latter -- the Laws of Savagery, Life, Wonders, Decay, Scars, and Variety -- have actual game mechanic effects, but all impact the flavor of the setting. For example, the Law of Savagery makes all-out attacks brutally effective, the Law of Scars means that a well-scarred opponent will always be more fearsome, and the Law of Wonders allows for the creation of astounding works of architecture -- not to mention Lost Worlds. (More on those below.)

The chapter also does an excellent job of describing the Living Land's environment and the challenges it poses to travel, both above and below ground.

Baruk Kaah and the Invaders

The book manages to make Baruk Kaah both interesting and scary -- a far cry from the joke he became in the first edition. The text skillfully details his motivations and attitudes, including his relationships with the other High Lords.

Rec Pakken, Baruk Kaah's spear-shaped Darkness Device, also gets good coverage of its own personality and motivations.

The chapter also goes into great detail regarding the edeinos, from their history and language to their fashions. The text presents valuable information regarding the various edeinos clans, including their chiefs and champions, and features multiple adventure seeds for each clan.

Keta Kalles in general and Lanala in particular get a great deal of coverage in this chapter, giving the reader a solid grasp of the religion and its adherents.

Finally, we learn about Thrakmoss, high priest of Rec Stalek, the god of death. This makes an interesting counterpoint to both Baruk Kaah and Lanala, and I'm glad the authors decided to include them in the sourcebook.

The chapter includes stats for Baruk Kaah, Thrakmoss, and even an Avatar of Lanala. The latter is of particular interest, giving our first view of what a deity looks like in Torg Eternity.

The Delphi Council

I couldn't ask for a more thorough treatment of the Delphi Council's dealings with the Living Land. It's all here: Their tactics, leadership, resources, bases, you name it. There's even a section on major operations and ways they may be incorporated into a campaign, helping the players feel like part of a larger world that's active all around them.

Adventures in the Living Land

Here the book addresses the various themes and tropes of the Living Land, all of which give a great feel for what Living Land adventures should feel like.

The real treat for me, however, is the section on Lost Worlds, which vastly increase the potential of the Living Land. Anything might be found tucked away in the jungles of the Living Land, and from any sort of reality. Want a mysterious pyramid? Sure! A building made from liquid mercury? Absolutely! A crashed flying saucer? No problem!

The section includes both a random lost world generator and a selection of pre-generated lost worlds with tantalizing names like the Anything Obelisk, the Hivemind Projector, and the Frozen Menagerie. (The latter includes cameo*appearances of stalengers and benthe, creatures otherwise absent from this edition.)

The chapter also features an adventure generator to randomly produce a goal, opposition, setting, and complication. I don't think I'd get much use out of it, but it's certainly nice to have.

Threats

Ah, the bestiary -- always my favorite part of an RPG book. This one is pretty good. I'd have liked to see more dinosaurs, but admittedly, I'm a bit greedy in that regard.

I was surprised to see that all five plantings of gospog remain plant-like, which makes me wonder if the gospog of other realms will follow suit.

• Gospog of the Living Land
  • Living Land Gospog of the Second Planting
  • Living Land Gospog of the Third Planting
  • Living Land Gospog of the Fourth Planting
  • Living Land Gospog of the Fifth Planting

• Dinosaurs
  • Ankylosaurus
  • Borr Aka (a kaiju-sized dinosaur)
  • Brontosaurus
  • Hadrosaurus
  • Plesiosaurus
  • Pterodactyl
  • Lakten (a pterodactyl large enough to ride)*
  • Mosasaurus
  • Sohba Sohba (a weird two-headed poisonous lizard)
  • Velociraptor

• Undead Dinosaurs
  • Ghoulasaur
  • Skeleraptor
  • Z-Rex

• Edeinos
  • Bluespine Sata Eater
  • Edeinos Priest
  • Edeinos Shrouded (covered in disgusting explosive fungal growths)
  • Goldsun Beast Rider
  • Ghost Clan Mistwalker
  • Red Ssatar (Ghost Clan champion)
  • Redbane (Redjaw Clan champion)
  • Redjaw War-Scarred
  • Silithar Tuy (Bluespine Clan champion)
  • Spearhand (Whitespear Clan champion)
  • Ssoryn (Goldsun Clan champion)
  • Whitespear Warrior

• Cryptids
  • Sasquatch
  • Chupacabra
  • Megalodon

• Humans
  • Cartel Soldier
  • Los Asangrados Cultist
  • Los Asangrados Priest
  • Primitive Humans

• Flora
  • Carnivorous Plant
  • Deepweed
  • Glowers
  • Sata'Chlar
  • Talgar Spore

Eternity Shards and Lost Treasure

This chapter presents four Eternity Shards that can be found in the Living Land:

• The Liberty Bell
• The Feather Shield
• The Forever Totem
• La Malinche's Necklace

Now, Eternity Shards are always cool, and I'm glad to have them in the book. But to me, the real fun is the Lost Treasures. These are oddball items that can show up in the Living Land for no particular reason, and I love each and every one of them:

• Automatic Spectacle Cap: A weird science device with lenses that help with finding things and negate darkness penalties.
• Cyclops, Nereus, and Proteus: A trio of grounded bulk cargo ships, last seen in the Bermuda Triangle.
• Hoverboard: You know, like in Back to the Future 2?
• Police Car: A literal police car, complete with a shotgun and a full tank of gas.
• Refrigerator: A 1950-style fridge operating just fine without power, complete with ice cream!
• Singing Crystal: A glowing crystal producing synthesizer-like music that drives off the Deep Mist.
• Shatterer: A powerful bizarre tentacular bio-organic rifle that does brutal damage but also damages the wielder with every shot.

Style

The look of this 144-page full-color hardback is exceedingly professional from cover to cover. The layout is cohesive and easy on the eyes, and the art ranges from good to great.

The text is an easy and entertaining read, describing the Living Land in vivid detail. I saw no typos of any consequence.

Finally, as all RPG materials should, the book contains a comprehensive index.

Conclusion

You do not need this book to play in the Living Land in Torg Eternity.

That is a good thing. A sourcebook that is vital to play is, in fact, an extra set of core rules that were left out of the main rulebook.

You will, however, really want this game to play in the Living Land. It fleshes out the setting in loving detail and provides a whole slew of goodies to bedevil any group of intrepid Storm Knights. Moreover, it makes the Living Land some place interesting and fun. If this is what the Torg Eternity folks have done with one of the least popular cosms from the first edition, I can't wait to see what they do with the likes of the Nile Empire.

If you're a Torg fan with even the slightest interest in adventures in the Living Land, I can't recommend this book highly enough.

*

You've sold me on this one.

So I had to order this from Miniature Market since CoolStuff was out of stock and... it still hasn't arrived. It took them 5 days from when my order was placed to even notify FedEx to pick it up, and every other step has been really slow. I'm guessing part of it might be the weather issues of a few weeks back, but damn if it isn't taking a long time compared to Amazon where I can often order it and have it show up the next day.

This finally arrived yesterday and I've been reading it since. While The Living Land is not my favorite (or even in my top three) of the Cosms, this is certainly an exceptional product. I hope the others are of similar quality and come out soon. I think I heard that The Nile Empire (which is my favorite Cosm!) is next, but I have no idea when it is expected to release.