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A Magical Society: Ecology and Culture
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<blockquote data-quote="Crothian" data-source="post: 2011093" data-attributes="member: 232"><p>Wow!</p><p></p><p> It’s been a while since I was wowed by a book. For people who just want the bottom line of this review here it is: A Magical Society: Ecology and Culture is a brilliant book that challenges the reader to think while improving the world they play their campaign in. The important word there is “challenges”. This book is not for someone who does not think and reason. I pulled out my college text books to compare them, and this book stood right by it the whole time. I’m truly impressed with the research and the intelligent writing. I’m impressed with the way it is all brought together and made interesting (unlike my college textbooks). Joseph Browning and Suzi Yee prove once again they can write a role playing book covering something no else really has. They do it with style, with smarts, and bring it all together in an easy to read and follow package. </p><p></p><p> A Magical Culture: Ecology and Culture (MCEC) is a pdf produced by Expeditious Retreat Press. It is a follow to A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe (MMSWE). The pdf comes in three files. The first is the color picture of the cover of the book. The other two are a print version and a screen version of the pdf. All together they are a little over nine megs in size. The screen version has a layout background to make it appear as if it is written on parchment. It is a dark background and at timers was a little tough to read. The print version does not have that and printed out well. Both versions include the same art. Each pdf is 160 pages in length. The book is well bookmarked for easy reference. With the sheer amount of information in the book, this makes it really easy and is a great timesaver. </p><p></p><p> The cover and interior art are by Ravindra Rana. All the art is well done used to both illustrate the text and break up the text for easy reading. It is important to note that many of the pictures are used to help with the concepts of the book. For instance the pictures used for the subduction of continental plates and how it helps create mountain ranges really allows the concept to come across visually and makes a lot easier to understand. </p><p></p><p> The content of the book is unusual for any role playing supplement. It contains no rules. One will not fine pages of feats and prestige classes, nor will one fine a catalog of magical items. This book is written for the Game Masters who want to design their own worlds or to make the worlds they play in a little more realistic. As such, it is not for everyone. But I feel that the people who do find use for will be amazed and have their world enhanced greatly with the information found in this book. </p><p></p><p> The book starts with mapping out a world. It uses the earth as a baseline for simplicity. It discusses the axel tilt of the planet and the seasons. It talks of the continents and how they interact through continental drift. It goes into how mountains are formed from collisions and volcanism. It goes into islands and archipelagoes are formed and how might place them. The level of detail is very complete and should allow for the construction of a well built world. It does not ignore magic, but suggests that creating a realistic world will make the magical places that much more magnificent by comparison. </p><p></p><p> Next the book discusses the inhabitants of the world. It goes into detail on the animals and plants and how they form food chains and food webs. Again the detail is impressive. It also includes magical ecologies of creatures that exist solely off of eating magic. This includes how magic exists in ley lines and how creatures have a magical metabolism to use this magical energy to survive. The book also takes us through the different types of locations and gives expected temperature, rainfalls, types of plants, and other information on these different areas. The sheer amount of information in here is mind boggling. </p><p></p><p> Weather can be a complicated subject especially tracking it over a full globe. The book breaks it down into some simple constants to help a person understand and use it. The book goes into what causes weather and how weather reacts to different terrains. It also goes into ocean currents and temperatures of them. </p><p></p><p> One of the most complex and difficult parts of a world is the design of the intelligent species and their cultures. There are many variables that can be placed into them and just using the different cultures on Earth one has hundreds of different ones to draw inspiration from. The book does not discuss specific cultures but does go about describing some with relationship to climate and some philosophy. The book goes into taboos, myths, migration, technology, and interaction of the cultures. </p><p></p><p> Then we get to the appendixes. They are formations of water, rocks, lands, etc; real world places of natural wonders and brief descriptions of them; Valuables and approximate price of them; list and description of many plants; list and description of many animals; list and descriptions of magical animals, fungi, gems, insects and plants; and a table of common dyes. </p><p></p><p> The whole book is brought together as the research of a new god, Keirian the Bold. As a new god he has to prove that he can create a world and throughout the book his journey is written about. It is very interesting, well written, and has some cool ideas and plot devices in it. It brings together this book and gives it purpose and direction. Near the back of the book are little comments left by the other gods. It is a brilliant touch. </p><p></p><p> When I first read MMSWE I could not imagine another book having so much information in it. Leave it to the people of Expeditious Retreat Press to have even more information in the follow up. The bibliography alone takes up two pages. It is intelligent, well researched, and covers an area most people ignore. This is a must have for home brewers and people who want their worlds of fantasy to seem real. There is nothing here that limits it to d20 either. There book should have equal value to people who play other systems and create their own world in them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Crothian, post: 2011093, member: 232"] Wow! It’s been a while since I was wowed by a book. For people who just want the bottom line of this review here it is: A Magical Society: Ecology and Culture is a brilliant book that challenges the reader to think while improving the world they play their campaign in. The important word there is “challenges”. This book is not for someone who does not think and reason. I pulled out my college text books to compare them, and this book stood right by it the whole time. I’m truly impressed with the research and the intelligent writing. I’m impressed with the way it is all brought together and made interesting (unlike my college textbooks). Joseph Browning and Suzi Yee prove once again they can write a role playing book covering something no else really has. They do it with style, with smarts, and bring it all together in an easy to read and follow package. A Magical Culture: Ecology and Culture (MCEC) is a pdf produced by Expeditious Retreat Press. It is a follow to A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe (MMSWE). The pdf comes in three files. The first is the color picture of the cover of the book. The other two are a print version and a screen version of the pdf. All together they are a little over nine megs in size. The screen version has a layout background to make it appear as if it is written on parchment. It is a dark background and at timers was a little tough to read. The print version does not have that and printed out well. Both versions include the same art. Each pdf is 160 pages in length. The book is well bookmarked for easy reference. With the sheer amount of information in the book, this makes it really easy and is a great timesaver. The cover and interior art are by Ravindra Rana. All the art is well done used to both illustrate the text and break up the text for easy reading. It is important to note that many of the pictures are used to help with the concepts of the book. For instance the pictures used for the subduction of continental plates and how it helps create mountain ranges really allows the concept to come across visually and makes a lot easier to understand. The content of the book is unusual for any role playing supplement. It contains no rules. One will not fine pages of feats and prestige classes, nor will one fine a catalog of magical items. This book is written for the Game Masters who want to design their own worlds or to make the worlds they play in a little more realistic. As such, it is not for everyone. But I feel that the people who do find use for will be amazed and have their world enhanced greatly with the information found in this book. The book starts with mapping out a world. It uses the earth as a baseline for simplicity. It discusses the axel tilt of the planet and the seasons. It talks of the continents and how they interact through continental drift. It goes into how mountains are formed from collisions and volcanism. It goes into islands and archipelagoes are formed and how might place them. The level of detail is very complete and should allow for the construction of a well built world. It does not ignore magic, but suggests that creating a realistic world will make the magical places that much more magnificent by comparison. Next the book discusses the inhabitants of the world. It goes into detail on the animals and plants and how they form food chains and food webs. Again the detail is impressive. It also includes magical ecologies of creatures that exist solely off of eating magic. This includes how magic exists in ley lines and how creatures have a magical metabolism to use this magical energy to survive. The book also takes us through the different types of locations and gives expected temperature, rainfalls, types of plants, and other information on these different areas. The sheer amount of information in here is mind boggling. Weather can be a complicated subject especially tracking it over a full globe. The book breaks it down into some simple constants to help a person understand and use it. The book goes into what causes weather and how weather reacts to different terrains. It also goes into ocean currents and temperatures of them. One of the most complex and difficult parts of a world is the design of the intelligent species and their cultures. There are many variables that can be placed into them and just using the different cultures on Earth one has hundreds of different ones to draw inspiration from. The book does not discuss specific cultures but does go about describing some with relationship to climate and some philosophy. The book goes into taboos, myths, migration, technology, and interaction of the cultures. Then we get to the appendixes. They are formations of water, rocks, lands, etc; real world places of natural wonders and brief descriptions of them; Valuables and approximate price of them; list and description of many plants; list and description of many animals; list and descriptions of magical animals, fungi, gems, insects and plants; and a table of common dyes. The whole book is brought together as the research of a new god, Keirian the Bold. As a new god he has to prove that he can create a world and throughout the book his journey is written about. It is very interesting, well written, and has some cool ideas and plot devices in it. It brings together this book and gives it purpose and direction. Near the back of the book are little comments left by the other gods. It is a brilliant touch. When I first read MMSWE I could not imagine another book having so much information in it. Leave it to the people of Expeditious Retreat Press to have even more information in the follow up. The bibliography alone takes up two pages. It is intelligent, well researched, and covers an area most people ignore. This is a must have for home brewers and people who want their worlds of fantasy to seem real. There is nothing here that limits it to d20 either. There book should have equal value to people who play other systems and create their own world in them. [/QUOTE]
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