The World of Khaas: The Legendary Lands of Arduin

Emperors Choice is pleased to announce "The World of Khaas: The Legendary Lands of Arduin" a comprehensive guide to the Arduin campagn setting, is AVAILABLE NOW!

The World Book of Khaas, Legendary Lands of Arduin is an exciting, 800+ page volume—a literal encyclopedia of the world of Khaas and the country of Arduin. The World of Khaas, Legendary Lands of Arduin is a massive volume based on David Hargrave's work, once and for all throwing wide the gates on the Plateau of Forever; allowing entry not only to Arduin, but into the very world.

Gone are the days of wondering what lays beyond her borders. Departed are the times when your have dreamed of roving her dusty trails or foraging in the dangerous woods of the world. Its landscape is open, unraveled for the eye to behold. Khaora, the wondrous continent that houses Arduin, is mapped, its geography open to your eye. Joining it are not only the rest of the civilizations on the continent but also glimpses into the other six continents as well.

The World of Khaas, Legendary Lands of Arduin has 821 pages and over 80 professionally rendered campaign maps, showing the World of Khaas, the Continent of Khaora and the Country of Arduin in a level of detail never before seen in any published campaign setting.

This comprehensive guide to the world was inspired by Dave Hargrave. It was written without mechanics or game system material and is compatible with d20 or other fantasy role playing game system.

The softcover version of the World of Khaas features the original full color cover and while trimmed to a shorter 821 pages has even more content than the original publishing! This new printing includes 10 more pages interspersed throughout the book and over 700 changes to spelling, grammar, organization and layout. How did we do this? We consolidated charts, condensed the index and reorganized the material to slim down the manuscript while taking away nothing.
Everything from the original production is in this amazing volume. With the new method of publishing you get to enjoy the original full color cover as well as additional material!



Due to the sheer size and weight of this product, purchasers are being offered two shipping options (Book Rate or Priority).

ORDER YOURS NOW!

First off, why put “prototype” on such an intriguing cover? Everyone seems so rushed to crowd the greatest and latest picture or design on their covers so they can play up the “flash” and “sparklies”. Anyway, that is not the point of this review but I wanted to say the cover gave the gigantic book a certain air of elegance. Its gutsy lack of “flair” spoke almost with as much volume as the massive amount of material inside. Why can’t more publishers do this kind of thing? I mean, the whole darn book outside of a few odd pages of charts in the back is utterly devoid of system mechanics! Not that I don’t mind a few rules or clarifications here and there in products to “spice them up”. Too many seem to be more about how new feats, skills, and powers they can cram into a book than about any kind of exciting material. Okay. Enough of the soapbox action. Let me jump right into reviewing this monstrosity.

First off, it is a bloody behemoth of a book. I have dictionaries that are smaller than this thing! It is pretty durable as well. A five year old using it as a base for his skateboard ramp put it to the test, let me tell you. I was glad to see the binding was still intact after that beating (even if the cover took a good beating…but show me a well favored game book that doesn’t). I wish they had put something on the spine, maybe more of that gold letter that is on the front. Not that I expect to mistake it for any other book anytime soon. My first impression was a mix of awe and apprehension—I mean, the darn thing was so thick and full when I leafed through it the first time, I wasn’t sure if I could finish reading the bloody thing before 2004 ended! The book is 865 pages long and about the fullest campaign setting I have ever seen in one volume (or several, for that matter). The publishers didn’t waste space by making large margins either. I measured them for kicks and it came out around ½ inch. The font looks to be about the same size you would see in a normal paperback novel, so it isn’t overlarge or anything. If I had to give a size, I would say size 10 or so.

Again, there doesn’t seem to be crap about system mechanics anywhere and it is dense with information. Just to give an example I was reading about the dozen or so constellations in the first part of the volume when I realized there was a chart of like 50 more in the back. It gave me a surge of ideas just looking at the names and thinking of all the trouble I could arrange in game just using the cool sounding names. I mean, they have this neat constellation called Yugora’s Maw that is swallowing another constellation. With that Yugora guy also being a god, whole hordes of ideas came crashing into my head about plot lines and ideas on where I could take this little gem. This is just the little stuff. There is pages and pages of sheer game info on the continents and oceans, even though a majority of the book seems to focus on just one continent.

The races section sent my mind a whirling again and there is all kinds of races ranging from the mundane to some more exotic ones like the phraint and kai-zirn or the multitude of half-everything’s that seem to be present. There is tons more of material about unique drinks, poisons, martial arts, nexus gates, and pages on things like how people handle death, birth and all those interesting things. All that stuff was interesting but I have to admit I jumped over a lot (okay, all of it) to check out the metals, unique gems, and how they explained the colleges and guilds I have always wondered about that seemed to proliferate in Arduin. The magik part was interesting, even if disagree with some of the concepts. The animals and critters section I leafed through, but have marked to come back. The history, however, wow…I have always, always, always wanted to know about Arduin’s history. I mean, its been hinted at forever but no one I know has every put together a good cohesive line of history outside of what was printed in the arduin grimoires back in the 70’s. To see it all laid out from the time of the Kthoi (and even before them!) to the present was like a dream come true. What boggled my mind when I was done goggling at the history was the fact I hadn’t even gotten one quarter of the way through the book! They took the time to talk about the different gods, expanding on a lot of the deities and demons I had seen in previous writing but hadn’t been able to find any information on. Can’t say I was impressed with all the little images next to the gods. Couldn’t they have gotten better images? Or, at least put next to all the gods? The grater demons were the same way. Still, even if they seem to have run out here and there, their was tons of info about each one.
The real goodies of the book (outside of the couple hundred pages about Arduin in the back, that is) was in the countries. There are 74 countries with pages of info on their vital stats (capitol, population, and all that jazz), socieity, customs, education, military, commerce, landmarks and history. Most are 3 pages long, though I counted one with 8 pages and several with 5-7. Only 1 or 2 had a single page entry and these were pretty minor countries it seemed. The sheer amount of info on each one and the total was pretty awe inspiring. If they had done this much work on the other nations sharing a continent with Arduin, I couldn’t wait to see that one. Can’t say I was disappointed either! Arduin starts on page 550 of the volume and goes for 200 pages more. It starts with two maps, one like the rest of the maps (crap. Forgot to say that each country had its own regional map, well done too. There was also a world and continent map too) and the other one their two-three foot map that they sell separately. Leafing through the reams of material about the geography, I would definitely want to get the bigger map as well. They give locations to a lot of geographic places in the book that are only on the bigger map. I found them all on the map they provided, but it is a heck of lot easier looking at my big map than the map sized one included. Too bad they couldn’t have put the both together, but they probably couldn’t due to cost or something. Not that I am cranking about the price tag. If anything, $60 was too cheap!
The history of Arduin was intriguing, if not down right insprining. I had seen some of it before, as the Elf-Human Wars part of it was in print way back when. The rest, though, I had never seen before and so much fell into place after reading it. There was a lot of detail afterward, more than I can keep spouting without taking tons more room. So I’ll just summarize. They spent some time on Arduin’s military (yes!), foods, calendar and holidays. It was the noble houses that I grooved on and they tell about each house, its prominent members and its origins. The politics part was interesting and detailed, even if it wasn’t quite as clearcut or what I thought. It made sense though, which was weird in a way. I liked have information on all the major and minor poltical factions…the plots it generated just reading them and their backgrounds had me scrambling for paper and pen. Religions felt a little skipped over. Still, given the amount of time they put on gods and demons previously, I can kinda see why. There was tons of Arduin related info on guilds and colleges too and a whole slew of more organizations just local to the country too. I loved the cities and actually having a description and idea of their contents. The cityscapes they had were cool too. I liked seeing them. The book ended with notes and discussion on the Arduin nexus. Or, at least its section on Arduin did. There was a list of stars and constellations that came next and following it a rogue’s gallery of npcs for Arduin. Enough to keep me in characters and names for quite a while! I didn’t count how many there were but there is a couple of pages of just named characters and paragraph blocks of info on them. Rumors followed that and there was pages of Arduin specific rumors to kick start any game that needed a few. There was a ton more other charts after that.

Some other observations. I was glad to see the binding hold up after some repeated use (and my five year old). Its glue only or so its looked but they must have used some good stuff or just a lot of it because it is holding strong. On the downside, there is some typos and grammar issues here and there. Not that I blame them. It’s a darn huge book (and a fine one at that). Nothing glaringly obvious (and considering my spelling not something I should be hollering about too loudly) or more than any other book I have on my shelf. A couple of places weren’t like the others, but again, based on the size I and the material they put out, I am not surprised or too horribly upset. I would definitely pay the money again and personally am looking at buying a second, especially since I am getting tired of everyone taking my copy to look at!

I even heard on one forum that they cut material to make the volume. ???? Who does this kind of stuff? If they are going to put out a supplement, they can count on me to buy it if it is anything even remotely close to this one!

Reviewing Note:

I wrote this and then looked at more of the reviews. I upped the score from 4* to 5* for a couple of reasons.
1. This book is huge. Its full of new material that has never seen print before.
2. Its compatable with anything or every system out there because it has no system to itself. Truly game-nuetral if such a thing was possible.
3. The info is truly interesting. I keep finding new things every time I break open the cover.
4. For its page count, price, and maps it can't be beat.

This tome is amazing.

Really, no kidding, this may be the most singular RPG book that I've seen in over twenty years of gaming.

Let's start with the physical, because that is what will grab you. Black hardbound book, height and width about the same as most RPG supplements. The cover has small gold lettering on the top front, no flacking or other problem there. That's all the lettering or decoration on the cover. Not even the title repeated on the spine. Pretty bold that, but maybe not considering that most folks won't have another book of this size with no title on their shelves. The binding looks good, although as noted in an earlier review, it seems glued, and time will tell. The length is amazing, I count 861 pages (and a few blank pages for notes at the end - does anyone ever use those?). I would guess that this is the largest single RPG volume ever published. The font and margins are not so bad either. I compared it to a few other supplements from Wizards and Kenzer and the font size may be one setting higher on the word perfect scale (not noticable unless compared). The margins may be a little bigger than other industry books (although this may be good if you plan to take notes). In terms of text density, the book has very few large illustrations (other than page size maps), so the larger margins and font may all balance out in the end.

Editing/Grammer: I am sorry, but I'm pretty poor at picking these things out. If it is glaring or really badly written, I'd note the problem, but I'm not and English/Lit kind of guy, so if you are picky about these things, I can't help you. That said, I didn't see any glaring grammer or editing problems here.

Art: I'm pretty much a drooling monkey when it comes to art too. There is some, all black and white. They probably could have used more since the book introduces a lot of the Arduin races (no stats, or picture) and dieties.

Maps: Very nice, lots of 'em. All black and white.

Delving Deeper:

Does anyone else remember the Arduin Grimores from the 70's? Yes, I am dating myself as a member of the AARP (Association of Ancient Role Players). I remembered them only because of some neat sounding player character races (that I would never use) and a critical hit chart (that I used to the point of memorizing). Well, Arduin was also a setting. All of the David Hargrave's notes have been brushed off and polished up by Emporer's Choice. An earlier reviewer went into detail about what is in the book, so I want summarize my impressions and recommendations.

1) I personnally think this is a great addition to a DM's library, and it does what the publishers set out to do; create an emersive, detailed, role-playing fantasy setting. Also, for you old timers, there is the tinge of early D&D weirdness. Things like having a spaceship land in the middle of you castle seem right in line with and are supported by, the setting.

2) This said, *WARNING* - this book is all about the "flavor" or "fluff" (or whatever the boards are calling it these days). This is a rules nuetral book! There is plenty of setting info, city and country details, new dieties, new player races and new monsters - just not stat-ed out for you. Obviously, before bringing these to a d20 game, the DM will have a little work to do.

3) One of the disappointments, for me, was the Arduin critical hit charts are not in this book. Now there are some in the very back, but they are more like event and product availablility charts. This IS in keeping with the rules nuetral context (so its back to ebay for me).

Bottom Line: What do I want out of a review? Should I buy this product or not. My opinion is that it depends on the person.

If you hate "fluff" and love game mechanics, then save your money, this product will only infuriate you.

If you love "flavor", richness of setting, or don't mind doing a little work adding some new ideas to your game, then seriously consider the $60 expense for this jewel.

Wow!

I’m finally holding in my hand the World Book of Khaas. A source book without a word of mechanics. Wow! Even having only discovered Arduin and Khaas a few short months ago, I’ve been enthralled by its splendor. Now I have what is arguably the definitive work of the entire world! No slight to the creator, David Hargrave, intended. His early passing is obviously a loss for us all. Anyway, enough sappy rambling…To some details.

Speaking of details, there is so much detail in this book I’m surprised it only weighs five pounds. Every country fleshed out more than enough to give each their unique flavor, yet so much room left for a game master to play with. The imagination soars and the skin tingles at the possibilities. Races, religions, countries, governments, laws, taxes, politics, my god man! Monty St John must have notes in every corner of his house.

The layout is clean; the pages beautiful. Enough pictures to give the brain a seconds rest, but none of them extraneous. The maps are clean and beautiful as well. Even for black and white, they are just spectacular. Hats off to you, Josie!

Customs, society, history, demographics and languages. I can hardly put this book down. Commerce, education and arts! Oh my, I doubt I will ever play in another world again. The Nexus give the world endless possibilities to bring any world, any technology, any system can be brought here and prosper. And with very little effort on the part of the GM.

If I have to fault anything it would be that it’s too white. Yes, that sounds strange, but the inside covers could have benefited from some art or graphic texture or something of the sort. But, being a first publication by Emperors Choice, it’s completely understandable to have some flaws.

Bottom line, this book is well worth the $60 price tag. After going through it, I’d gladly pay more. Just don’t tell them that. If you want a numbers rating, on a scale of one to ten, I just have to ask….Where’s that darn eleven?! Wow!

Please note that I missed this section and originally posted my review in the General Discussions area of the message board. What a mistake that was. Anyway, it's in the right spot now. Whew.

You’ve heard of that biggest dungeon thing? How about the biggest damned book? I have in my hands, and it’s a struggle to lift it, the “World Book of Khaas: Legendary Lands of Arduin” adapted from the writings of David A. Hargrave, written by Monty K. St. John and published by Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures Corp. copyright 2004, second printing 2004. Let’s get the nitty-gritty out of the way first. It’s a soft-cover perfect-bound presentation; color cover, gray-scale, minimally bordered interior. This phone book-sized tome is 821 pages in 11 point font, not too big, but highly readable. It also has a hefty price of $69.95. The title page and editorial introductory material are not included in the page count. The Table of Contents, which can be viewed online here in .pdf format, takes up five pages. There are 12 pages of a highly complete index. The World Book itself is text and maps. The maps comprise 10% of the content; there are 79 of them including one double-paged map of Viruelandia (a country). There are eight full-page art plates taking up a mere 1% of the available space. Other, smaller art graces the pages throughout in appropriate places and not over abundantly. A tiny bit of the art is a little amateurish in my opinion, but most is well-executed and some is helpful, especially in the race descriptions and the art serves to evoke an aura of “otherworldliness” about Arduin. However, this is a book to read.

Since the Table of Contents is available for perusal, I won’t reiterate. The text of the World Book falls naturally into three segments: an overview and general information on the world of Khaas and the continent of Khaora, descriptions of the countries and political entities extant on Khaora and thirdly, detail on the country of Arduin itself. Finally, there are numerous useful appendices. In reading through this book, two niggling gripes become apparent. First, though this second printing is apparently cleaned up from the first, there are still numerous typographical errors and lapses in proofreading and editing. Every page seems to have some mistake on it, but most are simply an assault to my perfectionism. Any GM could easily “fill in the blank” on almost all of them. The second item is the lack of section breaks. It was initially disconcerting to me to see the bold title for a section at the head of a page, but the beginning text appearing on the previous page! I suspect it was done to minimize the page count and I became accustomed to it after a bit.

The overview segment is a bit hit-and-miss as far as utility, depending on your style of campaign. Dave Hargrave ran a wide-open, “anything is possible” type of campaign and his world reflects it. He invented “nexus gates” to account for the interstellar and planar connections, contacts and artifacts in Arduin. As a GM, nexus gates may not apply in your world. The Khai-Zirin, a once star-faring race, might not be present, or Phraints, an insectoid race, or techno magik [sic], artifacts from technological societies, but Dave’s Arduin has always been modular. I stole from it 20 years ago and Monty St. John continues the tradition admirably. Some of the entries in this segment simply leave the reader to look for more information. For instance, the text on ships in the Science and Engineering section is two paragraphs long. Unless you know something of ships and sailing, these paragraphs are not much help to your gaming without some additional research. Most of the sections, however, are ready to lift wholesale and incorporate directly into your milieu. Races, Metals and Minerals, and Poisons and Dire Substances are just a few. For instance, Thunder Tongue’s Ale from Potables of Khaas: “Another Dwarven made drink, this dark brown (almost black) ale is aged in genuine lightning struck wormwood casks for 22 years before it is ‘lit to drink.’… The history section and religion section towards the end of the general information are particularly interesting and highly playable, even with modification to suit your style.

The next segment focuses on Arduin’s continent of Khaora. Major geographic regions of the continent are described along with the peoples inhabiting them. Each of the 75 countries sharing the continent is detailed next, generally three pages devoted to each. The maps are quite plain, but highly readable as a result. Each indicates major topographical features, bordering countries and features, principal cities and settlements and other places of interest. Each description begins with a list of vitals for the country, including map Location (Khoara political divisions map, p. 238), Capitol, Population, Demographics, Government, Technology, Magik [sic], Religion, Symbol or Heraldry, Allies, and Enemies. This is followed by a general statement on the character of the country, for example, “Hyrkhalla is a bloody, vibrant nation with a checkered history of broken promises and aggression. Its people are well known for their savagery in battle and ruthless diplomacy.” Sub-sections follow on Society, Customs, Education & the Arts, Military, Commerce, Landmarks and Regional History. These sub-sections give sufficient detail for a GM to flesh out any particular one on a solid foundation. If an adventuring party surprises you (they’d never do that, right?) and ends up in Chrysolia, you have enough information to wing it.

Finally, we have the country of Arduin, Dave’s “baby”. He often referred to his world of Khass as “Arduin” and the word is used interchangebly with the game system he conceived. However, Arduin was properly the country that Dave’s campaigns were based in. There are just over 200 pages detailing this one country in the World Book! The depth of detail in this segment can be glimpsed in the Table of Contents. And far from being a useless quarter of the book if you don’t run Arduin, the information contained herein is just as modular as the rest. You want a topographical feature? Lift Dragon Throne Mountain: “Located south of the Forest of Dragons… the top slopes are barren… but the lower slopes are thick with huge, old cedars… large orchards along the lower slopes of the east and south sides… many springs… the Blood Water is somewhat famed due to its sanguine hue and semi-mythical powers." Incidentally, each of the terrain features is keyed to a color, “parchment”, poster-sized map of Arduin available from Emperors Choice. How about houses of nobility? Vital stats are given for each (Ruler, House Sigel, Lands, Domicile, Political Faction, Voting Power, Family) along with a description of the character of each and a short history, a recount of the origins and detailing of its family and political ties to other houses. If you need a quick-and-dirty legal system, it’s here, a secret society, a city description (no maps), a calendar; these are all available for your use and more. And if you decide to run a campaign centered in Arduin or on the world of Khass, no matter the game engine, you’ll feel as if you’ve hit the mother lode if you pick up this book!

And now a word about the appendices; generally simply listings of things. These are almost worth the price of admission in themselves! Now, that’s a bit of exaggeration, but the NPCs appendix is system-neutral and eminently plunderable, likewise, the rumors appendix. Weather tables, inn ratings, random events and item and price listings are useful to any RPG campaign.

Do you want to spend $70 on yet another campaign setting? I say yes. You could plop down 30, 40 or 50 bucks for other settings that might give you color, stitched binding, a fine world history or quality religions. They won’t give you the detail of this book. The others may give you long-term playing pleasure, but even the most popular seem to grow stale. The World Book of Khaas has so many plot hooks and so much variation is possible that this setting won’t curdle for a lifetime! And unlike many other settings, in the words of Monty St. John, “…the approach of the world guide was to present the information in a system neutral way. This was done to allow players and GMs to use the fantastic world of Khaas with whatever game system they prefer. No specific rulebooks or guides are necessary to fully enjoy the benefits of this volume, other than the ones you already own.”

The World Book of Khaas, the three trilogies of the Arduin Grimoire (the original writings of David A. Hargrave), the Arduin map (a world map is in the works), the Compleat Arduin (a unified game system based on the Grimoire, also written by Dave Hargrave) and the Arduin Adventure (an introductory FRPG system) along with other games and miniatures are all available from Emperors Choice. More information on the world of Khaas can be had on Emperors’ World of Khaas website and is an indication of this small company’s devotion to customer service. And speaking of customer service, Dave Bukata and George DeRosa, Emperors Choice, guarantee this book! There is also an Arduin fansite containing further information, resources and links on Arduin and the world of Khaas and an Arduin Yahoo Group.

Disclamer: The author of this review is not affiliated with Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures Corp. or any of its business concerns. The volume reviewed was received in compensation, but the opinions expressed in this review are wholly the author’s own and the writings were neither reviewed nor approved by Emperors Choice prior to publishing.

The World Book of Khaas: Legendary Lands of Ardiun and Arduin copyright by 2004 Emperors Choice Games and Miniatures Corp.
This review copyright 2004 by Steve “bloodymage” Willett

Arduin Bloody Arduin

Arduin Bloody Arduin, a rule system and campaign world designed by the late great David Hargrave has stood the test of time. With the publication of The Arduin Grimoire, Welcome to Skull Tower and The Runes of Doom, David offered a system that reflects the hard-edged blood and guts action associated by the greats of sword and sorcery literature. Conan, Elric and Kane would feel at home walking the dangerous lands of the Kingdom of Arduin. Dave introduced many concepts that were ahead of his time. Critical hits, spell points and limited Hit Points allowed high and low level characters to face adventure side by side. Horror, sci-fi and fantasy blended into a wonderful tapestry of adventure. David let his imagination run wild and showed many gamers that anything is possible. Dave’s axiom was “power attracts power” and this philosophy allowed Dave to run very high level games that many Game Masters would find difficult to handle.



David Hargrave died before his time but his legacy lives on. Emperor’s Choice has collected an extensive collection of Dave’s work and with the writing talents of Monty St. John the world of Arduin lives to bring both new and old onto the Plateau of Forever, the fabled gateway that connects alternity with Arduin. The book titled: The World of Khaas, the Fabled Lands of Arduin is a colossal tome of inspiration and imagination 821 page long filled with the lands, people and places of interest through-out the world of Arduin. The level of detail is amazing, with sections on food, customs, politics and holidays barely scratching the surface of this font of information. The entire tome is system neutral so any rule system can be dropped into Arduin with ease.



The World book is very organized with easy to find information. Over 75 countries with notable geography, history, customs, society, education and the arts plus military organization are detailed. A map of each country is provided in black and white with a good overview of the area in question. A section on races describes the many distinct and unique peoples that fight and die, trade and steal throughout Khass. Guilds and commerce have been detailed in depth and the multitudes of languages that exist across the continent are covered also.



Magic of many types is not forgotten. Perhaps Runeweaving is your game, the oldest form of magic extant in Khaas. Wild magic was developed in response to Runeweaving and would be most familiar to gamers in general. The esoteric form of magic known as “Techno Magic” reveals a unique aspect of Arduin. Items of technology can be found due to the many Nexus Gates, crashed interstellar spacecraft and artifacts from long lost ancient civilizations.



Religion provides a fascinating look at the many gods and demi-gods that are venerated worldwide. An interesting note is that fantasy versions of Christianity, Islam and Hindu religions exist in Arduin. The terrible lords of Hell get their spotlight along with other divine minions like the Spydrons of the Spider god Shaggrath and the angelic Sentinels of the powers of light.



The many unique metals and minerals of Arduin are provided. The role-playing possibilities and adventure springboards scream out loud countless ideas for adventure. For example, the metal Ethril or Black Mithril is toxic to all elves who feel the bite of this metal and Silbony’s touch can disrupt lesser undead and horrifically burn undead of greater power can easily inspire a GM to many exciting adventures. The many mythic gems and jewels of Arduin will tempt adventurers to seek them out regardless of peril. If the players could get a hold of one, many of which have magical powers, some of the worlds most powerful beings would surely target the PCs with ill will. Remember “power attracts power” in Arduin so powerful items that characters get a hold of will eventually come to the attention of many others.



A flavorful section dealing with the potables of Khass is very evocative. Have a drought of Eight Legs Liqueur, distilled by Elves from the Myrkwood forest or raise a tankard of Rumble Tummy’s Ale, a calling card of the Kingdom of Arduin and as fine a brew as can be had. The delectable dishes of Arduin make a tasty treat. Help yourself to a steamed serving of Chunt, a very large, semi-aquatic beetle, whose meat is forked out of it’s shell much like lobster is served and for desert try a stick of Hop-Poppers, grasshoppers fried and dipped in honey and lemon juice. The culinary delights offered will fill the hardy appetites of the most ravenous adventurer.



The flora and fauna of Khaas is covered in detail. Mammoth Sky Trees that tower 400 feet high and Faerie Skulls, white flowers with a sweet perfume and a licorice like aroma that only grow where areas of great bloodshed have occurred. The wild and domestic animals that live throughout Khaas add yet another level of detail to this astounding book. Have a ride on a Firemane, huge horses that can run at speeds of 45 miles per hour, whose gallop fills the air with the sound of thunder and leave a streamer of flame as they reach their top speed. If traversing the forests of Khaas, the telepathic Wood Cat might be seen in a fur coat of white, green or mottled brown depending on the season.



Over 200 pages are devoted to the Kingdom of Arduin. The history of the land and details of her many wars open the section. Close to 100 pages describe the geography of this fabled land. The incautious adventurer may find a gruesome doom in the Death Squirrel Forest or die a slow death in the radioactive wasteland of the Great Burn. Of course, the mountains and rivers, lakes and great freshwater Misty Sea are also detailed. The noble houses of Arduin along with the good, bad and ugly that travel the roads of the Kingdom help a GM add color and role-playing possibilities to his game. Lawless wandering vagabonds i.e. adventurers giving the local watch a hard time? Well the laws of Arduin give a harried GM some ammunition to cool the heels of troublemakers.



Arduin is a Nexus land, a huge area of trans-dimensional flux, and gates from many different worlds touch the Kingdom. It is these very Gates that caused the long conflict known as the Nexus Wars. The possibilities of wealth beyond imagining roused kingdom after kingdom to try to seize Arduin for themselves. The Gates allows some very interesting possibilities. Want to play a Greek Hoplite? Perhaps one fell through a gate during the Trojan Wars as Apollo directed his wrath upon the Greek invaders. How about a gunfighter from Tombstone? Maybe the curse from the Indian shaman you robbed led the outlaw to the Plateau of Forever rather than a trail into Mexico. The very idea that these strange outlanders can be encountered in Arduin unveils new vistas of adventure. Arduin is indeed a land of endless possibilities.



This tome of role-playing bliss will cost about 80 dollars, which at 821 pages is a bargain. The level of detail is staggering and the love that was poured into this product is evident. I can’t help but give this book my highest recommendation and challenge anyone to find a more complete world book.



May the Lady of the Silvery Moon watch over all as they seek wealth, fame and power in the lands of Arduin.



Roy M Mikesell