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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Winterthorn" data-source="post: 10314" data-attributes="member: 1702">When I purchased the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting last summer, and I knew very little of its earlier incarnations, I was truly surprised at its breadth. KoK is a rich and comprehensive setting that integrates politics, warfare, trade, and cultural diversity. This setting has details covering people and places, language and alphabets, celestial bodies and calendar, gods, city life and codes of law (medieval), armies, and oodles of plot teasers concerning the motives and/or personal histories of hundreds of NPCs. (There are plenty of useful reference tables too--a feature most competing products are found wanting.)KoK is also "humanocentric". Humans rule, in most regions, and demi-humans are no more prominent than humanoids. In fact, Hobgoblins are elevated in this setting as real rivals to humans--possibly exceeding elves in demographics and military might! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />Amazingly enough, it all seems to come together and "feel" like a real world. With well over 250 pages of rules-free background this sourcebook still remains generic enough for any DM to develop a campaign to their own liking. Indeed, Kenzer & Co. will not impose a running timeline upon us fans--we are given a panoramic snapshot of a vast continent and its numerous denizens... A "sandbox" for us DM's to play in <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />I think the fact that the variant rules are to be published as a separate document--the KoK Player's Guide--is a smart strategy. This way we separate the background from the rules. It's surely more logical to manage from the DM's point of view! (I don't want game mechanics lost among reams of setting background, a la FRCS for example... Perhaps that's just a matter of taste?)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)For those who are looking for a world that's more realistic, toned-down in magic, more sophisticated and less contrived, then I heartily recommend Kingdoms of Kalamar. It may not be perfect, but IMO it's worth it!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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