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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
I've been running a Ptolus campaign since 2006. Here's what I've done with the setting.
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<blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 7944912" data-attributes="member: 11760"><p>So, final thoughts, unless someone has a question or comment about the setting:</p><p></p><p>When I plopped down the $100+, or whatever it was, back in 2006, I thought Ptolus was a setting I could use for the rest of my life. While I do own other settings -- the systemless Pirate's Guide to Freeport, Redhurst: Academy of Magic -- that's ended up being true.</p><p></p><p>The setting scratches a lot of my itches, allowing political intrigue (Emmerson interfering in the assassination plot is going to continue to complicate everyone's lives, for instance), urban adventures, dungeon crawling, roleplay opportunities and more. While it doesn't break the mold like, say, Spelljammer does, it would be hard to find a classic D&D adventure you couldn't run in Ptolus or Praemal (in fact, I may actually use a spelljamming ship later in the campaign).</p><p></p><p>The setting is expansive and loosely sketched out, without having the relentless kitchen sink approach of Galaron or Mystara. (Unmentioned in my posts so far: a side campaign running one of the Arabian Nights-flavored Pathfinder Adventure Paths in Uraq, run by the same DM who runs the Tenth campaign.)</p><p></p><p>I've used Ptolus for 14 years now and, while I anticipate selling my 3E copy when my 5E copy is imminent (we live in a small apartment and are continually trying to trim the fat), I can easily see using it for 14 years more, which I have to say is a pretty good run. In addition to using it in the play by post games, it's also been the setting for playing in person with family and friends, including one memorable adventure where my son (a swashbuckling thief) and father (a pirate-turned-bard, which makes sense if you know my dad) pulled off a jewelry robbery in the middle of a fancy dress ball, only to be robbed by two Balcazar thieves, whom they pursued in horsedrawn carriages across the city, only breaking off the pursuit when the Balcazar thieves ducked into a local bar which my son, who loves his printed out PDF of thieves cant off DMs Guild, realized was a gang hideout and my father had to <em>bribe my son</em> to prevent him from running in anyway and probably getting them both killed.</p><p></p><p>The Ptolus Kickstarter campaign is in its final days and includes a huge swatch of 3E PDFs with nearly all of the Ptolus related content from that era (but not all the Praemal related stuff, which is scattered through a few more sourcebooks and adventures, including a write-up of the Black Grail itself). Stretch goals have included two new-to-the-public adventures and a 5E/Cypher conversion of the Banewarrens. (I suspect my group will be going in before it's converted, though, so that won't benefit me much.)</p><p></p><p>Physically, the book is really well done, like a masterclass for a design in usability. It's regularly, and appropriately, compared to a quality travel guide, with visual indications and color coding making it vastly easier to use at the table than any other game book I've ever used, including ones a quarter of Ptolus' vast length.</p><p></p><p>The <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/montecookgames/ptolus-monte-cooks-city-by-the-spire" target="_blank">Ptolus 5E/Cypher Kickstarter campaign</a> ends on Friday, March 20 at 5 p.m. Pacific time.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Whizbang Dustyboots, post: 7944912, member: 11760"] So, final thoughts, unless someone has a question or comment about the setting: When I plopped down the $100+, or whatever it was, back in 2006, I thought Ptolus was a setting I could use for the rest of my life. While I do own other settings -- the systemless Pirate's Guide to Freeport, Redhurst: Academy of Magic -- that's ended up being true. The setting scratches a lot of my itches, allowing political intrigue (Emmerson interfering in the assassination plot is going to continue to complicate everyone's lives, for instance), urban adventures, dungeon crawling, roleplay opportunities and more. While it doesn't break the mold like, say, Spelljammer does, it would be hard to find a classic D&D adventure you couldn't run in Ptolus or Praemal (in fact, I may actually use a spelljamming ship later in the campaign). The setting is expansive and loosely sketched out, without having the relentless kitchen sink approach of Galaron or Mystara. (Unmentioned in my posts so far: a side campaign running one of the Arabian Nights-flavored Pathfinder Adventure Paths in Uraq, run by the same DM who runs the Tenth campaign.) I've used Ptolus for 14 years now and, while I anticipate selling my 3E copy when my 5E copy is imminent (we live in a small apartment and are continually trying to trim the fat), I can easily see using it for 14 years more, which I have to say is a pretty good run. In addition to using it in the play by post games, it's also been the setting for playing in person with family and friends, including one memorable adventure where my son (a swashbuckling thief) and father (a pirate-turned-bard, which makes sense if you know my dad) pulled off a jewelry robbery in the middle of a fancy dress ball, only to be robbed by two Balcazar thieves, whom they pursued in horsedrawn carriages across the city, only breaking off the pursuit when the Balcazar thieves ducked into a local bar which my son, who loves his printed out PDF of thieves cant off DMs Guild, realized was a gang hideout and my father had to [I]bribe my son[/I] to prevent him from running in anyway and probably getting them both killed. The Ptolus Kickstarter campaign is in its final days and includes a huge swatch of 3E PDFs with nearly all of the Ptolus related content from that era (but not all the Praemal related stuff, which is scattered through a few more sourcebooks and adventures, including a write-up of the Black Grail itself). Stretch goals have included two new-to-the-public adventures and a 5E/Cypher conversion of the Banewarrens. (I suspect my group will be going in before it's converted, though, so that won't benefit me much.) Physically, the book is really well done, like a masterclass for a design in usability. It's regularly, and appropriately, compared to a quality travel guide, with visual indications and color coding making it vastly easier to use at the table than any other game book I've ever used, including ones a quarter of Ptolus' vast length. The [URL='https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/montecookgames/ptolus-monte-cooks-city-by-the-spire']Ptolus 5E/Cypher Kickstarter campaign[/URL] ends on Friday, March 20 at 5 p.m. Pacific time. [/QUOTE]
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I've been running a Ptolus campaign since 2006. Here's what I've done with the setting.
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