Magical Society: Ecology and Culture PRAISE

[jgbrowning]

Just got this. Holy...

I'll be honest - this book is more than I need. By wide margin. But still... won't be giving it back anytime soon

'S MINE.

Seriously: Very good work. Sleep-inducing plant alone is worth it

Thanks, we try to pack 'em full of useful stuff. Hopefully, the Magical Society line will continue to impress.

joe b.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Joe and Suzi mentioned this project last year at Gen con and I thought it sounded like the product I had been waiting for for ages.

Glad to hear it is meeting expectations.

Want it reviewed? (I'm the new staff reviewer and all)

 

[jgbrowning]

Joe and Suzi mentioned this project last year at Gen con and I thought it sounded like the product I had been waiting for for ages.

Glad to hear it is meeting expectations.

Want it reviewed? (I'm the new staff reviewer and all)

Ah, the joy of REAL ULTIMATE POWER!!

Drop me an e-mail to josephbrowning@exp.citymax.com and i'll send you out a copy if you include your address.

joe b.

 

[woodelf]

Thanks, we try to pack 'em full of useful stuff. Hopefully, the Magical Society line will continue to impress.

joe b.

So, here's the question: How does it compare with Aria: Worlds?

I read the review on EnWorld, and while it's a relatively good review, it seems to be from someone who hasn't seen an RPG supplement on this topic before. I own at least 4 of them, plus a bunch more on related topics (like the various Primal Order books), so my standards may be a bit higher--it has to be a particularly good book on world-creation. Now, mind you, it looks good so far--it covers both the basics and then some, at least as far as i can tell. How much detail is there? If i already know a fair bit about tectonics, and why deserts are where they are, and how distribution of land and water creates and affects weather patterns, and the predominant biomes of the world and why the occur where they occur, and so on, will this be old hat? Or does it go into enough detail to keep an old hand at this interested? I guess it's gotta go one better than a college text on the topic* to do me any good any more--not necessarily in depth, but in attitude: there are things that are *very* useful/important to consider when creating a new world that textbooks on studying an existing world never bother to touch. Not to mention magic: how much of the content is exploring the ramifications of magic on ecosystems? But, really, i hope you're familiar with Aria: Worlds' cause that one (plus the relevant stuff in Aria) really is an excellent measure of where i'm at--i know more than it does in some areas, and less in others.

* Yes, i really have had college courses on almost all of those topics, plus anthro, and bunches more relevant to world-building. And done some studying on my own, finding books of particular relevance. Plus that really great build-a-world thought experiment that they did at a SF convention in the 70s/80s, and which was turned into a book on worldbuilding for SF novelists.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

So, here's the question: How does it compare with Aria: Worlds?

Well, it's readable for starters.

I read the review on EnWorld, and while it's a relatively good review, it seems to be from someone who hasn't seen an RPG supplement on this topic before. I own at least 4 of them, plus a bunch more on related topics (like the various Primal Order books), so my standards may be a bit higher--it has to be a particularly good book on world-creation. Now, mind you, it looks good so far--it covers both the basics and then some, at least as far as i can tell. How much detail is there? If i already know a fair bit about tectonics, and why deserts are where they are, and how distribution of land and water creates and affects weather patterns, and the predominant biomes of the world and why the occur where they occur, and so on, will this be old hat? Or does it go into enough detail to keep an old hand at this interested? I guess it's gotta go one better than a college text on the topic* to do me any good any more--not necessarily in depth, but in attitude: there are things that are *very* useful/important to consider when creating a new world that textbooks on studying an existing world never bother to touch. Not to mention magic: how much of the content is exploring the ramifications of magic on ecosystems? But, really, i hope you're familiar with Aria: Worlds' cause that one (plus the relevant stuff in Aria) really is an excellent measure of where i'm at--i know more than it does in some areas, and less in others.

Well, there's a lot of real-life science in this book, and these parts will probably not as interesting to you - plenty of things were known to me as well. But it has some brilliant stuff on how magic changes the environment - how magic-eating creatures survive, adapt, and evolve - that make it highly worthwhile.

Really, check it out - there will probably be plenty of things in it that make it worthwhile. If you still have doubts, just buy the PDF for $10...

 

[jgbrowning]

Well, it's readable for starters.

Heh. Yeah, we always try to make the books fun to read as well as informative.

Well, there's a lot of real-life science in this book, and these parts will probably not as interesting to you - plenty of things were known to me as well. But it has some brilliant stuff on how magic changes the environment - how magic-eating creatures survive, adapt, and evolve - that make it highly worthwhile.

Glad you found that part useful, Jürgen, and thanks for the support.

Really, check it out - there will probably be plenty of things in it that make it worthwhile. If you still have doubts, just buy the PDF for $10...

Woodelf, with your background I wouldn't be surprised that you'll already be familiar with much of the scientific aspect of the book. What we think it could bring to you (besides the ideas Jürgen mentioned above) would be...

1: all of the info is compiled into one game-oriented source. We try really hard to not put in anything that isn't applicable for gaming. It is a gaming book, after all.

2: the appedixes. We've compiled a whole bunch of unique plants, animals, physical formations, magical creatures, and (perhaps for you most importantly) unique geological locations (like the Ngorongoro Crater and Okavango Delta) into short paragraph explications. This helps every GM grab real-world places and plop them down into his or her world. I've always found the hardest part about doing so is actually finding out about the cool place to begin with. Hopefully, this section would be very useful to one with a deeper knowledge of the subject matter already.

joe b.

 

[Crothian]

So, here's the question: How does it compare with Aria: Worlds?

I read the review on EnWorld, and while it's a relatively good review, it seems to be from someone who hasn't seen an RPG supplement on this topic before. I own at least 4 of them, plus a bunch more on related topics (like the various Primal Order books),

Well, I wrote the review and you would be mostly riught, I haven't seem many RPG books on this subject. The only one I can recall is the second edition Wolr Builders Guide and personally, I like this book better. So, what other gaming books are there on world building?

 

[woodelf]

Well, it's readable for starters.

I don't know if you're kidding about this, or serious, but you hit one of my buttons, so i may be overreacting. In any case:

Aria: Worlds is perfectly readable. So is Aria. Aria itself suffered from an organizational problem--as several people discovered, the second half (the GM part) actually was much more readable if you read the chapters in reverse order. However, as far as the language/grammar is concerned, Aria is easier to read than most RPG books, because it relies merely on education, not knowledge of esoteric RPG jargon. The ony reason people considered it hard to read is that they'd already learned and internalized all sorts of RPG jargon that the average person wouldn't have a clue about. A college-educated person (who hasn't read any other RPG books) is gonna find Aria easier to read than D&D3E PH or V:tM--the first is written much more clearly and precisely, even if it is written to a higher reading level, and it much more clearly identifies those few words that have a distinctly different meaning from their common meaning.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I don't know if you're kidding about this, or serious

Half kidding, actually.

, but you hit one of my buttons, so i may be overreacting. In any case:

[snip]

A college-educated person (who hasn't read any other RPG books) is gonna find Aria easier to read than D&D3E PH or V:tM--the first is written much more clearly and precisely, even if it is written to a higher reading level, and it much more clearly identifies those few words that have a distinctly different meaning from their common meaning.

Well, while I am college-educated (I've got a university diploma in physics), English isn't my native language, and I've "trained" (or rather: It just happened that way...) my English reading skills through novels and RPG books rather than college text books.

Yes, I was able to read Aria - but I found MS:EC to be an easier read. YMMV.

 

[tauton_ikhnos]

Firstly: I own and love my copy of Aria: Worlds. But I completely disagree with your assessment of it.

Aria: Worlds is perfectly readable. So is Aria.

Problem is that while it is "perfectly readable", it isn't "readable". If you spend the time, you can parse through it. A few headaches sacrificed in the name of knowledge are nothing, yes? I've done much the same with many college papers written in an obfuscatory manner. Those were "perfectly readable", too... on the presumptuous assumption that one is willing to put in the effort to crack the stilted speech, polysyllabic machine gun, scholar's passive voice, and gratuitous self-referencing, all of which are present and self-evident in the Aria books.

Jürgen Hubert's right: Magical Society is readable, with no assumptions on your willingness to push through difficult reading to get at the meat.

However, as far as the language/grammar is concerned, Aria is easier to read than most RPG books, because it relies merely on education, not knowledge of esoteric RPG jargon.

"Education", in this context, means "esoteric liberal arts major jargon". RPG jargon is at least honest about its nature as jargon, and usually goes an extra mile to (a) only use jargon for things not commonly handled in the English language, and (b) have a glossary somewhere. Your sentence above says this to me: "Aria is easier for liberal arts majors to read, because it uses their language instead of gamers' language". That's not a rousing recommendation for readability in a gamers' book!

With that said, I love the stilted, polysyllabic, gratuitously locquacious writing. It keeps the riff raff out. But I'm not going to claim that it is anything but what it is.