Kingdoms of Kalamar question

[Darkwolf445]

Or maybe, questions? I am going to begin a new campaign and at some point wish to include Rappan Athuk reloaded into it. I have the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign and associated books. My question is, does the new pdf, "Kingdoms of Kalamar: Player's Guide to the Sovereign Lands," add enough to justify the purchase, and does this setting work well with Rappan Athuk? Until now the setting has pretty much sat upon my shelf with many other worthies.

I have been inclined to use Wilderlands or Empire of the Petal Throne as well, or rather, and I already have both those settings ready to go.

Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, and Eberron, though good in their ways, are not what I am looking for here.

 

[Crothian]

I reviewed the PDF and I like it plenty. It updates everything to 3.5 and has additional informaiton in it. It is very useful but not quite a must have.

I think Rappan Athuk will work well with the setting.

 

[jdrakeh]

I haven't seen the Player's Guide to Kalamar, though I do have experience with the setting in genral and think that Rappan Athuk would be a good fit for the setting. It might also work well in the Wilderlands (though the real Earth panthons in the Widlerlands totally shatter my suspension of disbelief). I think that a dungeon crawl of any kind would be really out of place in Tekumel.

 

[Darklone]

I played a PBeM campaign in Rappan Athuk with a Kalamar group. Was great.

And yeah, it fits (if you adjust some insane saving throws). Actually I played nearly all Necromancergame adventures in my Kalamar groups.

 

[Darkwolf445]

I haven't seen the Player's Guide to Kalamar, though I do have experience with the setting in genral and think that Rappan Athuk would be a good fit for the setting. It might also work well in the Wilderlands (though the real Earth panthons in the Widlerlands totally shatter my suspension of disbelief). I think that a dungeon crawl of any kind would be really out of place in Tekumel.

The reason I mention Tekumel is because I have the original setting. It has a lot of Underworld suggestions, dungeon crawling and exploration, and just gives off a good, nostalgic vibe. The newer GoO book fleshes it out, but the original harkens back to OD&D and gives me warm feelings.

My problem with Kalamar is that I cannot wrap my mind around it. It's not that I do not like vanilla, Greyhawk was my original campaign setting, I just cannot see something that sticks out to grasp onto. Right now there is the Campaign setting, the original player's book, and this new player's book. The first two are too similar and it have a lot of repeated information. This new book, even after having read the extensive review, does not seem to add enough to justify the price (I get enough grief from the wife for my gaming expenses as is so have to be a little more choosy about products). I will add, however, that I think the Kalamar Atlas is, hands down, the best Atlas I have seen to date.

 

[twofalls]

I'm not sure how to help you "wrap your mind" around Kalamar, the setting is simple enough, and that is its beauty. The game setting is designed for a low to mid magic level game, and the kingdoms it contains within them have an ordered internal logic (for a fantasy setting) that many other settings lack. The Atlas they came out with for the game setting is just a wonderful book.

The writing (imho) for all the Kalamar materials is held to a high standard that I have before them seen consistently only out of Steve Jackson's Game system GURPS. I can purchase any kalamar product sight unseen and know that I am purchasing quality material that is going to be useful in my game, regardless of the setting I use. Then again, I run a low to mid magic level game by default so their style appeals to me. I consider "Dangerous Denizens" to be a core monster book for any game I run by way of example, and consider it the best "monster" book I have on my shelf, and I have over a dozen.

As to your original question, I don't own a copy of "Kingdoms of Kalamar: Player's Guide to the Sovereign Lands", but I do own the previous hardback players guide and it is excellent. Since I play 3.0, not 3.5, I expect I wont pick a copy up. The Players Guide to Kalamar that I do own is excellent however. I don't own Rappan Athuk, so I can't offer any adivce there.

 

[Mark Plemmons]

The game setting is designed for a low to mid magic level game, and the kingdoms it contains within them have an ordered internal logic (for a fantasy setting) that many other settings lack.

That's what I like to hear!

I'd say the setting is designed to be scalable, however, instead of only low to mid magic. It's much easier for a DM to add high magic to a setting than to remove it.