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Twin Crowns, Age of Exploration Fantasy
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<blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2009190" data-attributes="member: 18387"><p>This review is for <em>Twin Crowns - Age of Exploration Fantasy</em> published by <a href="http://www.livingimagination.com" target="_blank">Living Imagination, Inc.</a> I want to thank Inger Henning for shipping me a copy of this robust sourcebook. Twin Crowns is a 304 page softcover book retailing for $24.95.</p><p> <em>Twin Crowns</em> is the campaign sourcebook for the world of Ptalmanar, but is useable for any d20 fantasy setting. It is divided into three different books (Player's Section, The World, and GM's Section) that make up all seventeen chapters of the book. The Player's Section outlines the races, classes, skills, feats, equipment, religions, and magic found in Ptalmanar. The World gives an in-depth background history of the entire world and its lands. The GM Section presents information on campaign ideas, new magic items, monsters, and a new monster template. </p><p> Most standard races listed in the 3rd. ed. <em>Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook</em> are available for use in Ptalmanar except they exhibit different societal behaviors. An example of this can beseen with the High Elves. In Ptalmanar, they are a militaristic and tyrannical society that tends to be regarded by others as spies, terrorists, or saboteurs. Three races native to the Ptalmanar setting are the Khesta (a race similar to the stereotypical halfling or hobbit), the Kithraas (an aquatic race resembling humans), and the Shallorians (a moderately egocentric feline humanoid race). </p><p> All core classes are represented with five different prestige classes available for play. The prestige classes are: Arcane Ritualist (an expert in arcane ritual magic), Bounty Hunter (an interesting class that is exactly what it sounds like), Diplomat (a master negociator capable of limited arcane magic), Divine Ritualist (the cleric/druid equivalent of Arcane Ritualist), and finally, Privateer (the swashbuckling pirate of the high seas). </p><p> There are seven new skills presented that are either sea related or ritual related. However, the section on feats is a sight to behold. There are 105 different feats listed! I believe this represents the largest number of feats contained in any single sourcebook to date from any publisher. Although many of these feats are Ptalmanar campaign exclusive, just as many may be used in any setting with little or no alterations. </p><p> Equipment includes firearms and gunpowder. Gunpowder weapons are divided into 3 classifications: personal (musket and pistol), grenade-like (bomb and smokebomb), and large siege weapons (cannons). Nautical equipment also has a strong representation in the equipment listings. </p><p> Another strength of <em>Twin Crowns</em> is the chapter devoted to naval adventuring. Living Imagination has even gone as far as declaring the naval adventuring system employed in this chapter as Open Content under the Open Gaming License. Contained within this chapter are easy to comprehend and follow sections devoted to the complexities of sailing, naval combat, different classifications of vessels, and other factors present in a seafaring culture.</p><p> The authors have also developed a highly detailed pantheon that has been well thought out. There are numerous deities that fill almost every imaginable niche, all of them having a place in the world's history. For those who are searching for a pantheon to use in their home brewed campaign world, this is worth examining.</p><p> Magic is prevalent in Ptalmanar with all of the spells listed in the <em>Player's Handbook</em> being available. In addition, there are 82 new spells exclusive to this campaign. The breakdown of these new spells by class is as follows: 9 Bard spells, 30 Cleric spells with 13 Clerical domains, 24 Druid spells, 6 Paladin spells, 10 Ranger spells, and 29 Sorcerer/Wizard spells. Ritual magic is also incorporated into this world. Performing a ritual not only poses an element of risk to the caster, but requires specific amounts of a substance known as Korba. The amount of risk involved does vary dependent upon the type of ritual (there are 84 rituals listed).</p><p> Book II (The World) contains an in-depth background history of key events in Ptalmanar along with an extensive compilation of the geographies, peoples, major cities and towns, histories of the lands, and the societal structures of those lands. Various organizations are also detailed including 9 different Magician's Guilds, 7 different Merchant Houses and a couple of adventuring companies. </p><p> The GM's Section (Book III) has valuable information for running an adventure in Ptalmanar. Nearly every major event is driven by any single or combination of the following sources: Religion, Exploration, or Korba (a vital commodity, especially for ritual magic). There are also entries for 25 new magic items, 8 new monsters and one new monster template. </p><p> Dragons are treated somewhat differently in this setting. They are an even greater force to be reckoned with! There are 26 Great Dragons, who are nearly immortal, that claim sections of Ptamanar as their own. This is a concept that appears to have been influenced by Jean Rabe's <em>Dragonlance Fifth Age</em> setting. It's important to note that the color of the dragon is not necessarily important here. Rather the dragon's distinctive personality, ambitions, and goals take precedence. The Great Dragons have one single shared goal of ultimately "turning the world into a blasted plain of eternal summer where all of the Maker's Children serve them." The Great Dragons increase in power as their wealth and the number of followers increase.</p><p> There are dragons other than the twenty-six Great Dragons that typically either oppose or support them. The alignment of each standard dragon type usually applies but there are always exceptions. "It is possible that a red dragon is against the goal of the Great Dragons so he can become more powerful himself, and (it is) equally possible that a silver dragon is willing to work with the Great Dragons so it can be sure of the absolute destruction of the (evil) wendigo." Obviously, this is a circumstance where a dragon's color doesn't reveal everything. </p><p> Overall, I have to say that I am extremely impressed with the quality of this book. The authors have gone to a lot of effort to craft a world rich in detail but strong in mechanics. If you are looking for a campaign world that emphasizes the adventures of the high seas with a twist of something different from your "standard" fantasy game, <em>Twin Crowns - Age of Exploration Fantasy</em> is a serious consideration. Heck, the chapter on Naval Adventuring is almost worth the purchase price itself...</p><p></p><p><span style="color: green"><strong>To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to <em>The Critic's Corner</em> at <a href="http://www.d20zines.com" target="_blank">www.d20zines.com.</a></strong></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Messageboard Golem, post: 2009190, member: 18387"] This review is for [i]Twin Crowns - Age of Exploration Fantasy[/i] published by [url=http://www.livingimagination.com]Living Imagination, Inc.[/url] I want to thank Inger Henning for shipping me a copy of this robust sourcebook. Twin Crowns is a 304 page softcover book retailing for $24.95. [i]Twin Crowns[/i] is the campaign sourcebook for the world of Ptalmanar, but is useable for any d20 fantasy setting. It is divided into three different books (Player's Section, The World, and GM's Section) that make up all seventeen chapters of the book. The Player's Section outlines the races, classes, skills, feats, equipment, religions, and magic found in Ptalmanar. The World gives an in-depth background history of the entire world and its lands. The GM Section presents information on campaign ideas, new magic items, monsters, and a new monster template. Most standard races listed in the 3rd. ed. [i]Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook[/i] are available for use in Ptalmanar except they exhibit different societal behaviors. An example of this can beseen with the High Elves. In Ptalmanar, they are a militaristic and tyrannical society that tends to be regarded by others as spies, terrorists, or saboteurs. Three races native to the Ptalmanar setting are the Khesta (a race similar to the stereotypical halfling or hobbit), the Kithraas (an aquatic race resembling humans), and the Shallorians (a moderately egocentric feline humanoid race). All core classes are represented with five different prestige classes available for play. The prestige classes are: Arcane Ritualist (an expert in arcane ritual magic), Bounty Hunter (an interesting class that is exactly what it sounds like), Diplomat (a master negociator capable of limited arcane magic), Divine Ritualist (the cleric/druid equivalent of Arcane Ritualist), and finally, Privateer (the swashbuckling pirate of the high seas). There are seven new skills presented that are either sea related or ritual related. However, the section on feats is a sight to behold. There are 105 different feats listed! I believe this represents the largest number of feats contained in any single sourcebook to date from any publisher. Although many of these feats are Ptalmanar campaign exclusive, just as many may be used in any setting with little or no alterations. Equipment includes firearms and gunpowder. Gunpowder weapons are divided into 3 classifications: personal (musket and pistol), grenade-like (bomb and smokebomb), and large siege weapons (cannons). Nautical equipment also has a strong representation in the equipment listings. Another strength of [i]Twin Crowns[/i] is the chapter devoted to naval adventuring. Living Imagination has even gone as far as declaring the naval adventuring system employed in this chapter as Open Content under the Open Gaming License. Contained within this chapter are easy to comprehend and follow sections devoted to the complexities of sailing, naval combat, different classifications of vessels, and other factors present in a seafaring culture. The authors have also developed a highly detailed pantheon that has been well thought out. There are numerous deities that fill almost every imaginable niche, all of them having a place in the world's history. For those who are searching for a pantheon to use in their home brewed campaign world, this is worth examining. Magic is prevalent in Ptalmanar with all of the spells listed in the [i]Player's Handbook[/i] being available. In addition, there are 82 new spells exclusive to this campaign. The breakdown of these new spells by class is as follows: 9 Bard spells, 30 Cleric spells with 13 Clerical domains, 24 Druid spells, 6 Paladin spells, 10 Ranger spells, and 29 Sorcerer/Wizard spells. Ritual magic is also incorporated into this world. Performing a ritual not only poses an element of risk to the caster, but requires specific amounts of a substance known as Korba. The amount of risk involved does vary dependent upon the type of ritual (there are 84 rituals listed). Book II (The World) contains an in-depth background history of key events in Ptalmanar along with an extensive compilation of the geographies, peoples, major cities and towns, histories of the lands, and the societal structures of those lands. Various organizations are also detailed including 9 different Magician's Guilds, 7 different Merchant Houses and a couple of adventuring companies. The GM's Section (Book III) has valuable information for running an adventure in Ptalmanar. Nearly every major event is driven by any single or combination of the following sources: Religion, Exploration, or Korba (a vital commodity, especially for ritual magic). There are also entries for 25 new magic items, 8 new monsters and one new monster template. Dragons are treated somewhat differently in this setting. They are an even greater force to be reckoned with! There are 26 Great Dragons, who are nearly immortal, that claim sections of Ptamanar as their own. This is a concept that appears to have been influenced by Jean Rabe's [i]Dragonlance Fifth Age[/i] setting. It's important to note that the color of the dragon is not necessarily important here. Rather the dragon's distinctive personality, ambitions, and goals take precedence. The Great Dragons have one single shared goal of ultimately "turning the world into a blasted plain of eternal summer where all of the Maker's Children serve them." The Great Dragons increase in power as their wealth and the number of followers increase. There are dragons other than the twenty-six Great Dragons that typically either oppose or support them. The alignment of each standard dragon type usually applies but there are always exceptions. "It is possible that a red dragon is against the goal of the Great Dragons so he can become more powerful himself, and (it is) equally possible that a silver dragon is willing to work with the Great Dragons so it can be sure of the absolute destruction of the (evil) wendigo." Obviously, this is a circumstance where a dragon's color doesn't reveal everything. Overall, I have to say that I am extremely impressed with the quality of this book. The authors have gone to a lot of effort to craft a world rich in detail but strong in mechanics. If you are looking for a campaign world that emphasizes the adventures of the high seas with a twist of something different from your "standard" fantasy game, [i]Twin Crowns - Age of Exploration Fantasy[/i] is a serious consideration. Heck, the chapter on Naval Adventuring is almost worth the purchase price itself... [color=green][b]To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to [i]The Critic's Corner[/i] at [url=http://www.d20zines.com]www.d20zines.com.[/url][/b][/color] [/QUOTE]
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