Trickstergod
First Post
Derulbaskul definitely has a point: the Scarred Lands mechanics are absolutely horrendous at times. The writers/developers really seem to lack an understanding of d20 rules, or at least, balance at times, and you can't always trust their prestige classes, feats and spells. The only thing you can trust is that they're consistently shoddy throughout most of the books.
With that said, though, when it comes to the actual setting material itself, it is possibly the best 3rd edition setting out there. As it was written with 3rd edition rules in mind - that there are sorcerer's, that dwarves can cast spells, that there are half-orcs, etc. - it has an advantage over settings such as the Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance where those settings were not originally written with the 3rd edition revisions in mind.
It's also one of the better, if not best, supported campaign setting currently being made. It's Sword and Sorcery Studio's baby, and receives a good chunk of attention. This may potentially not be to your liking, but I personally find a well-supported campaign setting to be advantageous.
While some seem to be under the opinion that it's too different, or out there, or gritty, or whatever, I find it does a decent job of balancing between a mainstream campaign setting while still being unique enough to stand out. If you just want to run a game where knights in shining armor chop up orcs and rogues go raiding dungeons, it works for that, but if you'd care to delve into a more philosophical or moral-play type of gaming, well, there's opportunity for that as well. As of late the setting's been being shot in the foot with outright declaring it to be high fantasy, but earlier books leave ample opportunity for a gritty, low magic game if that's more to your liking, or just something a bit more in-between.
The pantheon, possibly one of the best things about the setting, fits together. It's not just a hodge podge of gods thrown together. The religion is well-integrated into the setting.
However, as I said - the mechanics? Not so great. If that's going to be a big deal to you, this probably isn't the setting for you. However, if the setting itself is the important thing, then the Scarred Lands is certainly a contender for your dollar and interest. Thankfully, there's quite a few rules-light books out for it, and even those with atrocious mechanics still tend to have a good deal of flavor text within them to make up for the fact that the spells and prestige classes might be best put out of their misery. Both the gazetteer's have next to nothing mechanics-wise within them, and the two hardcover continent books also have very few mechanics in them to sully their pages. Divine and the Defeated, which details the faith of the setting, while it does stat out the gods and offer a few new spells, is primarily devoted to fleshing out the history and beliefs of the setting.
With that said, though, when it comes to the actual setting material itself, it is possibly the best 3rd edition setting out there. As it was written with 3rd edition rules in mind - that there are sorcerer's, that dwarves can cast spells, that there are half-orcs, etc. - it has an advantage over settings such as the Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance where those settings were not originally written with the 3rd edition revisions in mind.
It's also one of the better, if not best, supported campaign setting currently being made. It's Sword and Sorcery Studio's baby, and receives a good chunk of attention. This may potentially not be to your liking, but I personally find a well-supported campaign setting to be advantageous.
While some seem to be under the opinion that it's too different, or out there, or gritty, or whatever, I find it does a decent job of balancing between a mainstream campaign setting while still being unique enough to stand out. If you just want to run a game where knights in shining armor chop up orcs and rogues go raiding dungeons, it works for that, but if you'd care to delve into a more philosophical or moral-play type of gaming, well, there's opportunity for that as well. As of late the setting's been being shot in the foot with outright declaring it to be high fantasy, but earlier books leave ample opportunity for a gritty, low magic game if that's more to your liking, or just something a bit more in-between.
The pantheon, possibly one of the best things about the setting, fits together. It's not just a hodge podge of gods thrown together. The religion is well-integrated into the setting.
However, as I said - the mechanics? Not so great. If that's going to be a big deal to you, this probably isn't the setting for you. However, if the setting itself is the important thing, then the Scarred Lands is certainly a contender for your dollar and interest. Thankfully, there's quite a few rules-light books out for it, and even those with atrocious mechanics still tend to have a good deal of flavor text within them to make up for the fact that the spells and prestige classes might be best put out of their misery. Both the gazetteer's have next to nothing mechanics-wise within them, and the two hardcover continent books also have very few mechanics in them to sully their pages. Divine and the Defeated, which details the faith of the setting, while it does stat out the gods and offer a few new spells, is primarily devoted to fleshing out the history and beliefs of the setting.
