Is Kingdoms of Kalamar worth it?

[zouron]

Kingdom of Kalamar for what little I had contact with it, I found ti to be a very interesting and very useful setting, I also found my share of things I wouldn't use as a DM myself (I am a player in a soon to begin campaign using that setting) for example our dm had use roll up homecity using some to me lame table in the book (had to pick hobgoblin since he had to tables for that so I could get my way hehe).

BTW why use D100 for these tables I never know, thought it was D20 hehe.

Another point was, someone said this was a realistic world? nah it is fantasy, and from what I hear a very nature friendly world (that certainly removes some of the gritty feel to me!).

But the world seems easy to relate to and get along with, though my psionic warrior is a weakling hehe.

The history is very complete in it as well, though one thing I could wish for (wehich works both good and bad) is make a comparison for which sociaty a race (including the five human ones) resemble, we had some trouble with an character wanting to play a far east monk, but I was able to locate by accident that the Deju(sp?) would fit that bill well enough.

Generally I think as a fairly generic world it is really interesting and useful, worth the money.

 

[Kichwas]

One last aspect in KoK's favour that I think few of really look at: compared to GH, FR, and SL, the geography (see maps) and climate of Tellene is infinitely more realistic! (IMHO)

You can remove that IMHO. It's not opinion; it's scientific fact.

The Kalamar climatology is scientificly accurate. Something no other d20 setting has managed to do.

Sure magical disasters might move mountains, and oceans. But once they did they would disrupt wind and rain patterns and thus nearly overnight forests and rivers would dry up and deserts would turn fertile. The exact where of this is utterly predictable and very easy to learn the hows and whys of. But still most settings not only fail in it; but fail drastically.

In most settings the maps are plain silly. Not because they include drastic changes due to magical or other events. But because they fail to account for what those events would actually do to a world.

 

[Kichwas]

...for example our dm had use roll up homecity using some to me lame table in the book (had to pick hobgoblin since he had to tables for that so I could get my way hehe).

BTW why use D100 for these tables I never know, thought it was D20 hehe.

I think you're DM made up those tables. There are no random tables in the book that I have found. There is a quick city reference chart but it has no numbers for any random rolls. It merely shows all the cities, their region, country, population, and page number.

I'm not sure where the nature comment comes from either so I'd attribute that to your DMs chosen way to use the world.

You could just as easily run an entire campaign within the Holy City of the Hobgoblins; Rinukagh.

 

[Darklone]

Yihaaa

Hey Arcady, nice crusade for Kingdoms of Kalamar

Well guys. I first saw that book... read something about asskicking on the back of the cover... saw that it's not really well crafted... And dropped it.

Eventually I came back and read it. And liked it. And never till now understood who in hell could have written that stupid things on the back

Well ... inside: As the others said, it's describing a world and the rules are in the Players Guide.

Another thing that most others didn't mention: You can do in Kalamar whatever you want. Just read the book and you get an impression on what would happen if your NPCs or players do some not so nice things. It's definitely feeling alive and logical. So do what you want there and you'll know what's going to happen probably. In the Realms? You know your players gonna do something and some big one like Elminster or someone else will drop by and change it. Or the bad ones will drop by and change it. Cause they CAN.

 

[rounser]

from what I hear a very nature friendly world (that certainly removes some of the gritty feel to me!).

So....gritty to you is wastelands, deserts and deforestation? Add demons patrolling the wastes and the tired old stereotype is complete. Ooh, what a badass, post-apocalyptic world. So original too.

Dark, gritty fantasy doesn't need such props...

 

[Kichwas]

That Asskicking line really bugged me when I first saw it too.

I think Kenzar said they got handed a short list of things they could put on the back cover and that was the least objectionable one. Something like that.

At the time; WotC was putting that buzz word on everything they could. If you looked I'll bet you'll find it tattooed on the butts of some of their employees of the time.

Not that I desire to see Monte Cook's posterior or anything.

 

[Berandor]

Am I too late?

Ass-Kicking was something I first read when other people complained about it.
I bought the setting, but as normal with rpg books, I didn't look at the back, but rather at the inside.

Now KoK is not such a pretty book as the FRCS - I think anybody would tell you that. But when reading the book, I found my imagination start spinning again. In all those years as aFR DM, I had grown used to waiting for new novels etc., just to have my world remain official. I used up much time without actually making up campaigns or adventures.

And then, I read about Kalamar. It had cohesion to a degree I wasn't used to. It had realistic attitudes - some not necessarily evil people who just didn't like demi-humans, for example.
It was big, grand, and felt historically correct.

From the moment I read the inlay to the book, where an old parchment tell about the human's immigration to the main lands, and the following footnote setting the notice into relation with the author's obvious Kalamaran origin, I knew I was hooked.

One more thing I liked about the setting book is that it was exactly that: a setting. There are about 5 rules described in there, three about different breed of horses. This is a DM's book.
But the book doesn't let the spaced saved by this unused... instead we are treated to an etensive appendix, detailing laws, military organisation, the stars, different calnedars for the main cultures, a comprehensive look at the deities (complete with sacrifices, titles, sayings, holy animals, how to gain ranks in the hierarchy, ...), and even a note how spells are employed aín a criminal examination. Ever wondered why innocent people got jailed if there were spells like "detect lie" or "zone of truth"? Look no further - it is explained.

And that's it. Every important thing is actually explained. There is no illogical development just covered up - it is all logical, somehow.
Why was the Kalamaran empire so powerful in former times? They were the first humans to employ steel weapons.
How could one small city defend against the invasion of a militocracy? They played the hobgoblins and the militocracy off against each other.
Why does the militocracy defend the rest of the young kingdoms against the hobgoblins? They are paid tribute by the other countries - not just because.
and so on...

Kalamar is truly astonishing in its rich detail. I could readily imagining a novel series in it, but detailing historical events, like important battles, or discoveries, or...

Berandor

 

[Sayburr]

Wow, there has been a lot of discussion since I last looked in on this thread.

Doc,
I usually end up playing pre-made modules also due to my work and family schedule. Even though I have many plots running around in my head I just don't have time to write them down into cohesive adventures. So I buy modules.

My group started out with "NeMoran's Vault" by Fiery Dragon and then moved on to the "Coin Series" by Kenzer Co. I highly recommend "Root of all Evil", "Forging Darkness", and "Coin's End". The best part of these modules is to get from point A to point B is not a straight line. For example, you are to tell someone named Haalan about the coin of power but no one knows where he is. The PCs finally meet Geolain who will only help the characters if they do something for him. He then tells the characters where he is and when they get to where Geolain tells them he has moved on and the characters have to search for him. Plus a lot happens in just finding Geolain. Not only is the setting well thought out, but the adventures are too.

As Bill suggested, read his or my story hour to get a feel for the modules.

Another module by Kenzer Co that I think is best they have put out so far is called "Deathright". The rest of the modules "Aldriv's Revenge", "Harvest of Darkness", "Midnight's Terror", and "Siren's Prize" are also very well written. Depending on the location of the adventure, the modules have a different feel to them. The "Coin Series" and "Midnight’s Terror" take place in the 'Bay area and it is very easy to link the two. Running these four adventures would put your characters at around 7th or 8th level, just high enough for the wonderful "Deathright".

"Harvest of Darkness" is actually four short adventures that are designed to be placed in-between other adventures. It is not actually designed to take characters from first to tenth level, but to use one of the four when the characters are high enough from other adventures to survive.

As far as the setting book is concerned, no, there are no "crunchy bits" it is the setting only. I think Bill covered very well what will be in the player's guide, also known as the "crunchy bit book". I agree with the remarks about "Ass Kicking" on the cover, but that was changed when they realized it was a bad idea.

Nightfall,
One day Kalamar will get one of those pretty DM screens, I understand they are already working on it. Then the Kalamar setting will be complete.
Actually, I just wanted to say that there is an entire group in the Kalamar setting dedicated to Necromancy and they are in several of the modules. It is not Scared Lands Necromancy but they are very prevalent in Tellene.

Well, I think I have rambled on long enough.

 

[Numion]

The Kalamar climatology is scientificly accurate.

Now I know what is missing from my campaign.

 

[Disciple of Darwin]

zouron, I'm not sure where those tables for randomly generating PC home locations came from, that certainly wouldn't be my cup of tea either. I agree with Arcady, that could be your DM's invention. And if you think nature is handled with kids gloves you may not have seen the d10,000 random encounter table in Root of all Evil for the uninhabited areas in the area!

Darklone, I've seen your postings and know how much you enjoy KoK now, but I think many people have had the response you did when you first took a perusal through the setting book. Glance at it, nothing really strikes you immediately, set it down and move on. It takes a (at least halfway) thorough reading of it to appreciate. I doubt I would've ever picked it up last summer myself had I not read the detailed reviews on it. I think a downfall of the book is that it isn't flashy by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm glad Kenzer spent their resources on the concepts between the covers.

Saybur, you mentioned something I love about Kenzer's adventures. As of now, most of the Kalamar adventures are set in different parts of the continent. Nothing too shocking there. BUT, its amazing the different flavor the adventures have because they are set in different cultures. I considered relocating the Coin trilogy to the Kalmaran Empire . . . but so much of the flavor would be lost because the Reenarian Bay is quite different than the Kalamaran Bay. The Empire has the might to convince pirates their aren't welcome in these waters, the Bay is too shallow for sea monsters to reside in, etc. Moving it would be a shame, because these encounters have that much thought put into them. I congratulate Kenzer on having such a cohesive setting.