Kalamar - first published 4e setting?!?

[racoffin]

I've enjoyed the Kalamar setting myself, finding it pretty detailed and interesting.

And the names bit isn't a real issue, anymore than some of the names in other settings or finding yet another scrambled letter 'Gygax' in the Greyhawk stuff.

 

[Mark Plemmons]

I checked out the PDF, and parts are interesting.

However, the half-hobgoblin racial power doesn't make a bit of sense.

It's a Standard Action with a trigger... I don't think it works that way. Triggers are for Immediate Reactions and some Free actions - that is, actions which aren't taken on your turn.

If you want to restrict targets, leave out the Trigger line, but add something like...

Special: This power can only be used on an opponent who has been given an offer to surrender, but declined.

You're right, many triggers are for Immediate and Free actions, but the 4E PHB does mention using triggers with Standard and other actions, such as in readying an action, with rituals, and so on.

I intentionally used an existing rule mechanic (the trigger) instead of adding a "Special" line that might confuse the issue (not that I'm against 'Special' lines - I like using them too). In this case, though, it works the same either way.

Just so you know there was some thought behind it.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Our '2nd party' status ended last November or so, when our license agreement ended. We're not using their logos or copying any of their material, like we could before. Likewise, we're not using the GSL.

Y'know, Kalamar has never particularly excited me (it's old school, which is cool, just not in my usual taste), but this move excites me, so I think I might buy this PDF anyway and pillage it viking-style for Interesting Tidbits.

 

[Mark Plemmons]

Back to the new book...

How much new material is in it compared to the 3e version?

Let me think...

There are a few new paragraphs here and there throughout, of course, but I think the biggest additions are:

- humanoids: I took and edited some material from the v3.5 Player's Guide to the Sovereign Lands, talking about the humanoid races, and wrote up some new info there about creating new races (like the half-orc) and subraces (like the deep gnome) that don't exist in the PHB.

- region summary: Each region also has a condensed summary about its history (as well as the detailed one), so you can get a quicker feel for the history to see if you want to read more.

- more deity/church info: I tried to fit each church/deity on a single page, to make it easier to flip through and use. That meant adding a paragraph or two here and there (usually from the Divine Masters supplement) to fill some space. When an entry was too long to fit on one page, I made it and the following entry each 1.5 pages, to balance it out and get the next entry in line back to one page. So the gods chaper is MUCH easier to flip through. I also used the more detailed reference charts from Divine Masters, though of course I had to modify them quite a bit for 4E.

- feats: The gods chapter also has a new channeled divinity feat for each of the 43 faiths, so that's a few more pages.

- Atlas: Of course, it's also got the Atlas as the entire second half, so that's a pretty massive addition too.

Ok, lunch break is nearly over and I still need to eat. I'll check back in later to see if there are more questions.

 

[Heselbine]

I've been following this thread and I have to say something about Kalamar.

I ran a Kalamar campaign for about two years, and it was very successful. The (for me) very best bit about Kalamar is that it's been thought through as a complete world concept, and because of that it hangs together very well. Personally a world that feels like an actual world rather than a few things which just happen to be next to each other (e.g. Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms) is very appealing.

Added to this, you have the Kalamar atlas, which is just about the best RPG supplement ever produced, and which I think is (almost?) entirely stat-free so won't need any updating.

Down-sides of Kalamar: I've found that sometimes they'll put in rules crunch which is either not quite in the spirit of the game, which is overpowering, or which doesn't quite fit. Not a big problem, however.

I'd thoroughly recommend Kalamar if you want:

1) a "realistic" (in the sense of it all hangs together) world
2) a fairly straight setting (no magic trains etc.)
3) a classic D&D experience

BTW, I've nothing against Greyhawk or FR, or Eberron, but I love Kalamar and I'm at a bit of a loss to understand why it's not more popular.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

And Kenzer & Co isn't professional?

Professional worldbuilders? Professional game designers? Sure.

Professional philologists? I can't answer that.

 

[Rakor]

Is there anywhere to purchase the PDF besides the Kenzer and Co website? I would like to buy this product without providing my street address, phone number and gender. Will it be available at, say, drivethrurpg?

 

[NewJeffCT]

We'll still be supporting 3.5 for a bit, if for no other reason than we still have a couple of mostly rules free 3.5 PDF products that are nearly completed. And the 2E and 3.5e-compatible PDFs will remain on our webstore, of course.

any hints on what those books are for 3.5?

 

[Vendark]

Looking at the preview, it strikes me as pretty ballsy to mention eladrin, tieflings, and dragonborn as being part of the setting. I would have thought eladrin and tieflings at least would be trademarked, seeing as how they were introduced all the way back in Planescape days.

 

[NewJeffCT]

I've been yawning over Kalamar since before 3e. Imagine Greyhawk, but written in the style of a 1968 encyclopedia, and with less mind flayers.

Less mind-flayers in Kalamar?

Have you read their section on the SNoBS? (Secret Network of the Blue Salamander) They are a group of mind-flayers intent on world domination that have infiltrated nearly every government and major organization on the planet.