D&D 5E Free 60+ page Guide to Sword & Sorcery for 5E D&D

[xoth.publishing]

The Player's Guide to the World of Xoth is a free PDF with more than 60 pages of sword and sorcery material for fifth edition that allows you to play in adventures inspired by the stories of Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. Venture in the footsteps of Conan the Cimmerian, Satampra Zeiros of Uzuldaroum, Imaro of Nyumbani, and other fabled thieves, reavers and slayers!

Packed with all-new, all-original artwork especially commissioned for this book, it contains chapters on the Races, Cultures, Classes, Swords, Sorcery, Cults, Lands, and Legends of Xoth (although you and your GM can of course use the material in any sword and sorcery campaign setting).

The guide was originally released for Pathfinder (and earned a 5/5 review rating - see Review of Player's Guide to the World of Xoth - RPGnet RPG Game Index ), and is now available for fifth edition (5E) with even more pages and more artwork. Among other things, it contains three new core classes that are replacements for the Bard, Cleric and Paladin (which are classes that poorly fit the sword and sorcery genre), respectively the Courtier, Cultist, and Conqueror classes. There are also new genre-appropriate class abilities and options for Druids and Rangers, and a section of new weapons and spells.

Oh, and did I mention that it's a FREE download? Go grab your complimentary copy of the Player's Guide to the World of Xoth today!

Here's the download link:

Spoiler: Note: The book contains mild nudity, might be NSFW for you

https://xoth.net/publishing/freebies/world_of_xoth_players_guide_5e.pdf

The current version of the guide is 1.3 and it is still a work in progress. Comments and feedback are welcome!

 

[JPL]

Lots of nipples. Probably a genre-appropriate quantity.

 

[JeffB]

This is awesome. Excellent genre style art (besides all the nipples )

Just glanced through, but I will spend some more time with it over the weekend. Thank you for posting it.

 

[theapoapostolov]

The current version of the guide is 1.3 and it is still a work in progress. Comments and feedback are welcome!

Is this supposed to prepare us for incoming Kickstarter of S&S for 5E, or something?

 

[xoth.publishing]

Is this supposed to prepare us for incoming Kickstarter of S&S for 5E, or something?

No, there's no Kickstarter planned. The World of Xoth is an established setting with a number of books (adventure modules) already published (see xoth.net publishing - sword and sorcery roleplaying adventures ), but so far those books have been for 3.5/Pathfinder. Future books will be using the fifth edition rules, hence the update of the Player's Guide. It's currently marked as a "playtest version" because some details might change as a result of feedback, but the final version will also be free (and there will be a Print-on-demand option as well).

 

[S'mon]

The Player's Guide to the World of Xoth is a free PDF with more than 60 pages of sword and sorcery material for fifth edition that allows you to play in adventures inspired by the stories of Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. Venture in the footsteps of Conan the Cimmerian, Satampra Zeiros of Uzuldaroum, Imaro of Nyumbani, and other fabled thieves, reavers and slayers!

Packed with all-new, all-original artwork especially commissioned for this book, it contains chapters on the Races, Cultures, Classes, Swords, Sorcery, Cults, Lands, and Legends of Xoth (although you and your GM can of course use the material in any sword and sorcery campaign setting).

The guide was originally released for Pathfinder (and earned a 5/5 review rating - see Review of Player's Guide to the World of Xoth - RPGnet RPG Game Index ), and is now available for fifth edition (5E) with even more pages and more artwork. Among other things, it contains three new core classes that are replacements for the Bard, Cleric and Paladin (which are classes that poorly fit the sword and sorcery genre), respectively the Courtier, Cultist, and Conqueror classes. There are also new genre-appropriate class abilities and options for Druids and Rangers, and a section of new weapons and spells.

Oh, and did I mention that it's a FREE download? Go grab your complimentary copy of the Player's Guide to the World of Xoth today!

Here's the download link:

Spoiler: Note: The book contains mild nudity, might be NSFW for you

http://xoth.net/publishing/freebies/world_of_xoth_players_guide_5e.pdf

The current version of the guide is 1.3 and it is still a work in progress. Comments and feedback are welcome!

Fantastic stuff! Downloaded & printing now!

Makes me want to run my copy of 3e The Spider God's Bride in 5e.

 

[CapnZapp]

Hah, so typically Puritan to focus on nudity!

I think, from a quick browse, the art is great, if repeated (unfortunately) a tad too much. The b/w style evokes the best from the Games Workshop era (Warhammer, Fighting Fantasy)! High praise coming from me!

Kudos for not gating your free download behind some sign-up malarkey. (Hate it when a supposedly free download sends you to a place where they harvest your email and other info) I clicked the link, and the PDF downloaded. As it should be.

As for nipples, my personal observation is that anyone with his panties in a bunch should realize that Sword & Sorcery is best played as a very mature setting for those willing and able to handle decidedly non-modern tropes of exaggerated stereotypes

Men being defined by their physical prowess - heroes are invariably sweaty hulking brutes, whereas physically weak males are untrustworthy or comical relief sidekicks, if not outright bitter, turning to evil and sorcery.

Women are also defined by their bodies, in this case by sexual appeal and allure - heroines are invariably beautiful, and showing some skin is an almost magical ability that defeats most males capacity for rational thought (male heroes not always immune).

A setting that evokes tropes and stories from antiquity.

It is a world with endemic corruption and vice where might makes right. Racism, slavery and prejudice is rampant.

True fantasy literature, that is, where you escape the modern world for a darker less likeable world. By playing in it and not insisting it should be watered down to include gender, racial, and social equality you aren't condoning morally wrong or evil actions; you're trusted to separate fantasy from reality just as you can separate right from wrong.

The prevailing philosophy is that civilization corrupts. If you hail from ancient civilizations you're a degenerate in mind and possibly also in body. In extreme cases (like fantasy-Egypt your folk truck with snake demons and blood sorcery)

At the other end of the spectrum, we find the wholesome barbarians most heroes come from - the fantasy Scandinavia or Scotland perhaps.

In this light, a little bit of harmless nudity to indicate that your barbarian queen of a player character might fight topless is certainly not near the top of the list as regards what really is NSFW about Sword & Sorcery, if y'all ask me! ;-)


PS. This is why I personally was satisfied when John Carter of Mars bombed: I think the idea of disneyificating S&S is oxymoronic and stupid. It tells me the exec saw S&S as just some rollercoaster adventure setting, completely shedding all that makes the genre valuable and interesting (as listed above). S&S needs the premium cable treatment, dammit! DS.

 

[Ath'kethin]

The Player's Guide to the World of Xoth is a free PDF with more than 60 pages of sword and sorcery material for fifth edition that allows you to play in adventures inspired by the stories of Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. Venture in the footsteps of Conan the Cimmerian, Satampra Zeiros of Uzuldaroum, Imaro of Nyumbani, and other fabled thieves, reavers and slayers!

Packed with all-new, all-original artwork especially commissioned for this book, it contains chapters on the Races, Cultures, Classes, Swords, Sorcery, Cults, Lands, and Legends of Xoth (although you and your GM can of course use the material in any sword and sorcery campaign setting).

The guide was originally released for Pathfinder (and earned a 5/5 review rating - see Review of Player's Guide to the World of Xoth - RPGnet RPG Game Index ), and is now available for fifth edition (5E) with even more pages and more artwork. Among other things, it contains three new core classes that are replacements for the Bard, Cleric and Paladin (which are classes that poorly fit the sword and sorcery genre), respectively the Courtier, Cultist, and Conqueror classes. There are also new genre-appropriate class abilities and options for Druids and Rangers, and a section of new weapons and spells.

Oh, and did I mention that it's a FREE download? Go grab your complimentary copy of the Player's Guide to the World of Xoth today!

Here's the download link: http://xoth.net/publishing/freebies/world_of_xoth_players_guide_5e.pdf

The current version of the guide is 1.3 and it is still a work in progress. Comments and feedback are welcome!

Thats awesome! My one complaint with the Xoth stuff is that I play 5e, not Pathfinder, so having it available for 5e is great news.

Are you planning to update the older stuff (Spider-God's Bride, Land of the Silver Lotus, etc) as well, by any chance?

 

[Krachek]

I like very much the Cultures of Xoth chapter.
Very interesting to assign ability bonus and other features based on general culture behavior.
For a human centric world it is perfect.
With some work can be applied to DnD.
You disconnect racial feature from race , and name it as a cultural trait.

 

[Nagol]

Since the mods yanked the OP picture without leaving the link, can we get a new text download link please?