Tell Me About the Scarred Lands

[Gaius]

I've certainly heard enough about them in the past few weeks, but despite my best attempts to learn more, I can't seem to make up my mind. I've read every review on this webpage, plus a good handful of those on RPG.net. I've read through the Scarred Lands story hours and read the glowing praises of Nightfall and others. I read the polls for favorite campaign setting. I've spent time at my local gaming store flipping through the various campaign supplements, such as Ghelspad and the Divine and Defeated. I love the concept of Hollowfaust and Mithril. The cosmology is intriguing, the way in which it blends Greek mythology with more standard fantasy pantheons. But despite every attempt to discern the meat of this game, I still don't know what to think about it.

Its this vague knowledge that intrigues me but doesn't quite sell me. I know enough to be interested, but not enough to know if I should invest in it. If I decide in favor of the game, I know that I'll spend a good deal of money purchasing the books, most likely to the exclusion of my home entertainment center. I won't mind at all if this setting turns out to be what I hope it is; a new world to fall in love with.

And so I turn to the people whom I trust to impart upon me the knowledge I seek. Consider this a request from a prospectful Scarred Lands fan. Consider this a chance to preach to me, Nightfall.

For all of you who would help me, do just one thing. Tell me what you like best about the Scarred Lands. Perhaps its a certain location, a compelling NPC, a favorite god, a plot hook that intrigued you, or a monster you found to be especially devious. Give me just one thing that you really like about the Scarred Lands and maybe from that I can fill in the holes and come to a decision.

Thanks!

Gaius

 

[SSS-Druid]

Let me give this a shot.

My favorite thing about the Scarred Lands is the heroes. I don't mean the adventurers; I mean the heroes.

The Scarred Lands is a setting where it is, frankly, too easy to just not care. There aren't super-secret organizations of do-gooders waiting to help rail-road PCs into heroic actions (heck, the closest thing we have - the Vigils - are more akin to an international spy ring than anything else).

Don't get me wrong - good isn't irrelevant or ambiguous here. Far from it: those who choose to take the harder path stand out among the denizens of the Scarred Lands, because it is easier to simply not give a damn. It is easy to just let the world fend for itself, and gods take the hindmost.

But the heroes of the Scarred Lands know that if they don't make a difference, no one else will. Their heroics aren't irrelevant, as in so many other settings. Heroes here don't "adventure" just for the riches and fame (though there is enough of that, too). They adventure because if they don't take up sword and spell, it is their loved ones and their families who will die at the hands of titanspawn or rampaging demons or what have you.

By the same token, the villains of the Scarred Lands make sense. One thing we decided long ago is that if we have a villain, it is going to make sense. No Snidely Whiplash twirling his moustachio will suffice for this setting. There is always a reason for someone's villainy, even if that reason is simply having been driven insane by the taint of the titans.

But this is a huge setting, and it can be a lot to take in all at once. Go check some stuff out. Go to www.swordsorcery.com and look over the material there. Ask questions on the forums. Download the free adventure The Serpent Amphora there.

Also, feel free to stop by an old website of mine, http://oakthorne.tripod.com/. In it, you'll find a description of Dorin's Vale, a setting I wrote up long before I worked for Sword & Sorcery Studios.

Give it a gander, and if you have any other questions, let us know.

 

[Teflon Billy]

OK, I'm a newcomer to appreciation for the Scarred Lands, but let me (as per your reques) try and explain why I think it's the best thing to come down the pipe in awhile.

1) The Bleakness: This is not a land of ( to quote R.E.M) "shiny happy people"...the Scarred Lands are a post apocalyptic setting with all that that implies. The War Beween the Gods and the Titans has left things in a a hell of a mess. Which brings us to the next bit...

2) The PC's are the Heroes: If the Player's don't take up the mantle (according to the supplements) no one else is going to. Vesh come closest to being your classic "Heroic Nation" but that is only by the standard set by the ret of the setting. The biggest claim to fame that Vesh has is that it's population isn't starving. It's Vigils are (to my mind) what the Harpers should have been if FR wasn't ging to suck.

3) Depth of Detail: The Sourcebooks go into great deatil abut the society without explajing away all of the adventure material (The Zhentarim are already destoryed for instance). The Level of deatil in all of the sourcebooks (with the exception of Warrens of the Ratmen adds to the DM's palette, instead of subratctingfrom it.

Ok, I;ve been drinking and I thin it would be better if I addes (and edited this later)

night all

 

[Yuan-Ti]

My favorite things, without going into specifics:

1) Detail. They cram a lot of detail in there without making it ponderous to read. And despite all the supplements, you could run a whole campaign on the SLCS hardcover.

2) Open space. Maybe because I picked up the gazeteer shortly after re-reading the Fellowship of the Ring (the Shire, for example, is surrounded by wide-open wilderness, about which the Hobbits know nothing), but I love the fact that much of Ghelspad is wilderness. The PCs have a chance to explore, to find new things, to discover. As a DM, you have the chance to place things of your own making out there in the wilderness without seriously affecting other aspects of the "official" setting.

3) Slitheren (basically Skaven, for WH fans). Evil rat men are cool.

4) Titans and gods are more mythical forces than earth-walking buttinskis.

BIG DRAWBACK: No Yuan-Ti. You gotta insert those yourself. I say drop the Aasaathi.

 

[Psion]

My favorite thing about the scarred lands:

It continues to use the classic alignment system, but at the same timeit breaks out of the "team jersey" mentality. The main struggle is not necessarily good versus evil, and you may find a priest of a depraved god as your ally.

At the same time, titans, which serve as the the ultimate evil in the scarred lands, is portrayed by some as a somewhat sympathetic force that might not exactly deserve the fate they have received.

At any rate, I also appreciate that scarred lands is a detailed setting, yet preserves that sense of wonder about fantasy. It remains D&D and builds on D&D archetypes and concepts (for example, the cleric and druid types make perfect sense as distinct entities in Scarn), but at the same time, it's not the same old creatures repackaged in another world. Some are the same, yes. But some are very different. For example, I think ratmen (slitheren) and scarred lands hags are great villains.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Atmosphere, the Scarred Lands has a feeling to it. Call it grit or epic, the Scarred Lands feel alive and vibrant, at the same time feeling dangerous and unknown. You don't know what you are doing to find over the next hill.

Now, calling Nightfall...

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

So what is the first book one would buy? The city books look cool, but will those give me the background detail I need for the world? What about that new hardback?

 

[Hand of Evil]

I would go with Ghelspad world book and DM screen packet.

 

[Renshai]

Heck, I bought all of them at once Flexor. I am still running a Forgotten Realms Campaign for a group of 11th level characters... when that campaign dies down (if it does) I will be breaking out my shiney Scarred Lands books for a brand new campaign. It should be quite a departure from the normally up beat Realms.

I can't say I really like one book over another, they are all really good.

Ren

 

[teitan]

Well, I got the Ghelspad hardback first, and I do not regret it. There is enough information in there to start a campaign or to just sample the world. It is also cheaper than a FOrgotten Realms soft back book.

If you just want to test the waters then WHite Wolf has a deal on the smaller GHelspad book and the DM Screen and COmpanion for 9.95 in their online catalogue. This is a real deal as both books are of excellent quality and the screen is definitely the best currently on the market.

Jason