Best "Known World" Gazetteers: Fluff, Not Crunch?

[Knightfall]

One bump... only.

 

[Bluenose]

Northern Reaches is my personal favourite. I'm not entirely certain I can explain why. It just has the right 'feel' to it, and gave me a huge host of adventure ideas.

I liked Five Shires and Golden Khan nearly as much, though they weren't quite as good in my opinion. Five Shires for making halflings serious. Golden Khan, because 'Mongols!'

To be honest, there's very few I wouldn't recommend. Atruaghin Clans I didn't like much, it seemed to be an afterthought. And I wasn't a fan of Alfheim for some reason.

 

[rogueattorney]

You don't have my two favorites listed - GAZ1 Karameikos and GAZ13 Shadow Elves. Of those listed, I think GAZ6 Rockhome and GAZ10 Thar are my favorites.

The only one I'd definitively say to avoid would be GAZ14 Atruaghin... It's skimpy, with big font, large borders, and much less content than previous GAZes.

The oft-criticized GAZ4 Ierendi actually has grown on me over the last few years. I think part of the perception problem with it is how it's written - as a guide for tourists - which can obscure the fact that it has plenty of material for serious campaigning.

 

[rogueattorney]

Also, anyone buying GAZes should make sure they're getting everything that goes with them. They all come with large fold out maps. All from GAZ7 and later have separate pc and dm maps.

GAZ4 Ierendi comes with a sheet of boat counters for naval battles.
GAZ7 Northern Reaches comes with a card stock fold up village.
GAZ10 Thar comes with the mock board game "Orc Wars!" - the "board" is on the back of the main map, but there are two sheets of counters.
GAZ11 Darokin comes with a cardboard fold up caravan.

For the prices that GAZes tend to demand on ebay and in other places, buyers need to make sure they're getting the whole product.

 

[Knightfall]

Well, the Viking historical reference is also a really good book. I loved it (the only one I love more is the Rome one, in fact). So that should give you an idea of my game leanings.

That being said, I think they're two different things. The Historical Book is trying to take actual history and present it in a way that GMs can mine it for a D&D campaign. The Gazeteer is trying to make a fantasy realm that is clearly inspired by Vikings.

The Historical book gives great societal and cultural advice; the Gazeteer gives great role-playing advice, NPCs, and specific locations. I would say that the Gazeteer is slightly better, but that they compliment each other quite nicely.

I had the Vikings book at one point. I wish I hadn't given it up as it was one of my favorites of the Historical line. I really liked the Rome book too.

Northern Reaches is my personal favourite. I'm not entirely certain I can explain why. It just has the right 'feel' to it, and gave me a huge host of adventure ideas.

It sounds like Northern Reaches (combined with the Vikings book) would be a good starting point for fleshing out my homebrewed Viking world, Aragard.

 

[Knightfall]

I'd hesitate on The Kingdom of Ierendi sight unseen. The "Fantasy Island" amusement part, vacationland aspect is far too off putting for me.

The attention to Polynesian cultures, however, was a breath of fresh air. Too bad it was buried in a distasteful overabundance of adventurer vacation sites.

Actually, if you look at it again, you will find that the adventure park aspect of the gazetteer doesnt really take up that much page space. The problem is that this is the overarching theme, which makes it seem like that's what the gazetteer is about. Digging a bit deeper though, the majority of the gazetteer is actually really good and provides plenty of adventure opportunity. I wouldnt rank the Ierendi Gaz as my favorite, but it is probably the most underrated of them all.

The oft-criticized GAZ4 Ierendi actually has grown on me over the last few years. I think part of the perception problem with it is how it's written - as a guide for tourists - which can obscure the fact that it has plenty of material for serious campaigning.

Ierendi sounds strange. I was hoping it was more like Freeport. The Polynesian culture part sounds interesting, but I don't know if that one aspect is worth getting it.

Do any of the gazetteers have STRONG pirate connections?

 

[Knightfall]

You don't have my two favorites listed - GAZ1 Karameikos and GAZ13 Shadow Elves.

That's because I have the free electronic version of GAZ13 and have already decided that I'll be getting the Karameikos gazetteer. (I have the Karameikos boxed set, but I want the gazetteer too.)

 

[havard]

Ierendi sounds strange. I was hoping it was more like Freeport. The Polynesian culture part sounds interesting, but I don't know if that one aspect is worth getting it.

Do any of the gazetteers have STRONG pirate connections?

Ierendi is a bit all over the place. It is a sort of pirate nation, but each island has its own unique flavor and that is more where the focus is.

Minrothad is the other major sea power, but the focus here is on sea trading guilds rather than piracy. In my old Freeport/Mystara campaign, I had Minrothad playing a role similar to that of the East India Trading Company, with Thyatis being the Imperial power on the high seas.

The Five Shires also has its share of pirates, halfling ones.

-Havard

 

[jonesy]

GAZ10 Thar comes with the mock board game "Orc Wars!" - the "board" is on the back of the main map, but there are two sheets of counters.

Also, the awesome warrior training manual of the Duh Legion. I saw a copy of the Gazetteer in a store that didn't have it. Buying that and then finding out would have sucked. The back cover doesn't even mention it so you'd never know. That little booklet is AWESOME.

 

[havard]

That's because I have the free electronic version of GAZ13 and have already decided that I'll be getting the Karameikos gazetteer. (I have the Karameikos boxed set, but I want the gazetteer too.)

Good decisions! In the case of Gaz1 vs. Karameikos boxed set (K:KoA), the information within is fairly similar, but the flavour is quite different.

-Havard