Serpent Kingdoms worth buying for non-Realms players?

[johnsemlak]

I had been ignoring this books as I'm not a realms guy but when I chanced on the previews a couple of weeks ago I was impressed by the potential for the material to be very useful for other settings. Essentially, it seems to be a book on using lizard-kin, doesnt it?

I bought Underdark and was happy with it's general usefulness, and one small tidbit I appreciated were conversion bits of some material to the core (Greyhawk) setting (the deity's for new domains in the book). Does Serpent Kingdoms have this feature?

 

[Turanil]

After having asked a similar question on another thread, I was told that Serpent Kingdom is light on info pertaining to the FR, and that it can be easily used in most settings. I hope this will be the case, as I have ordered it and waits for it (impatiently).

 

[Darrin Drader]

A lage portion of the material in this book talks about culture, society, PCs, and the relationships that exist with other scaly races. There are other sections on religion and history, which are very FR specific.

One of the things I did for this book was create (and name) the sarrukh, which is the progenitor race for most of the various scaled races. Right now I'm reading through the Dawnforge campaign setting and noticed that despite the fact that it is not FR, it alludes to a scaly progenitor race, which could allow the sarrukh to easily fit into that setting as well. Dawnforge also has yuan-ti and lizardfolk playing prominent roles, so there are two other sections that could be dropped right into that setting with little modification.

During the design process, one of the things that we were mindful to do was to stay consistent with existing Realmslore and even drop some new surprises in there while also creating material that would be useful to non-realms players who wanted to use this as a source for scaly races. I think that we managed to establish the correct balance, but then I am closer to the project than others who have simply posted their opinions about it. If you do decide to pick it up, I would be interested to know how well the book suits your purposes.

 

[Wormwood]

The artwork is stunning.

[/threadjack]

 

[Raesene Andu]

One of the things I did for this book was create (and name) the sarrukh, which is the progenitor race for most of the various scaled races. Right now I'm reading through the Dawnforge campaign setting and noticed that despite the fact that it is not FR, it alludes to a scaly progenitor race, which could allow the sarrukh to easily fit into that setting as well. Dawnforge also has yuan-ti and lizardfolk playing prominent roles, so there are two other sections that could be dropped right into that setting with little modification.

Sarruhk eh? I once created a powerful reptillian race I called the Ssarak, a very similar sounding names when you think about it. I wonder if they are relatives...

Description of race is here.
http://users.chariot.net.au/~hoss/text/race5.htm

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

You want to talk about similarities: They have a spell in the book called Serpent Arrow, which allows the caster to shoot a venomous snake as an arrow; in my book Poisoncraft (which came out two months ago, btw), I have a spell called Serpent Arrow, which allows the caster to shoot a venomous snake as an arrow.

I have to say, I like Kev Crossley's illo of serpent arrow in my book much better than the one in SK.

All in all though (and back on topic), the book does look quite good and general enough to be used for any campaign.

 

[Raesene Andu]

All in all though (and back on topic), the book does look quite good and general enough to be used for any campaign.

Unfortunately it isn't out in Australia yet (at least not here in South Australia) but it is top of my must investigate further list. I'm hoping it will province some useful information for my current campaign, which does feature two scaly races (the aforementioned Ssarak and the Quala, a race of reptillian gypsies and artisans).

 

[Krieg]

You want to talk about similarities: They have a spell in the book called Serpent Arrow, which allows the caster to shoot a venomous snake as an arrow; in my book Poisoncraft (which came out two months ago, btw), I have a spell called Serpent Arrow, which allows the caster to shoot a venomous snake as an arrow.

Hmm that is a coincidence...you aren't the only fan of SchwartzenConan!

 

[the Jester]

I glanced through the book in my FLGS and may well pick it up sometime, and I'm a Realms-hater. (Except for Olgar Shiverstone's stunning campaign, anyway.)

This and Underdark both fall under the heading of 'generic enough to be well worth buying,' imho.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Sarruhk eh? I once created a powerful reptillian race I called the Ssarak, a very similar sounding names when you think about it. I wonder if they are relatives...

Description of race is here.
http://users.chariot.net.au/~hoss/text/race5.htm

]

Well, if you have a scaly progenitor race in your campaign, I could see calling your race being a lesser form. Their basic body form is close (modeled after the yuan-ti abominations) as is their name, but that's where the similarity ends. The sarrukh are an extraordinarily powerful race, with 14 Hit Dice and a +8 level adjustment, and fairly large ability bonuses. Given the fact that today was the first time I've seen your site, I'll have to chalk the slight similarities up to coincidence.