mattcolville said:
So you're saying it's obvious to people who read this Setting book that it's really a generic resource book?
And you're wondering why it's not selling well?
Matt, I think you're confused as to which book I'm talking about. I picked up the Kalamar Player's Guide (KKPG), which is different from the Kalamar Setting book---and contains classes, spells, feats, skills, equipment.
So, I picked the KKPG up, knowing I was not going to play Kalamar, but to see if it had any useful crunch in it for other settings. It was almost all exportable with no tweaking, to ANY setting. I was thrilled at its versatility and overall excellence, so I gladly forked over my $30 for it, and have gotten a ton of use out of it. Not once did the Kalamar stamp on the front cover or flavor text inside distract me from buying this particular book. Frankly, in several areas, it's superior to the WoTC Player's Handbook (religious dogma and temple heirarchy advancement sections, more knowledge skills explained, more domains for clerics, including all the ones from DotF). I might be wrong, but I think this was also the first print product with alternate "core" classes listed; WoTC didn't jump on this idea until the Miniatures Handbook. From there, I made a point to look out for and purchase other Kalamar books with readily exportable crunch, such as the Villain's Design Handbook (not as good as the KKPG, but still useful).
But, back on subject, I have always been the type to look at just about everything ANY publisher puts out on the shelf to mine for ideas... if they have, in my mind, a sufficient number of easily exportable ideas and, most importantly, CRUNCH, then I will buy them. I understand how some people might not do this, they might think "oh, it says Kalamar on it, and I play FR, so I can't use it," but I'm trying to say that anybody who cracks the Kalamar Player's Guide open and gives it a fair shake will see it is easily exportable to any setting, and thus a good value. While I may not think of Kalamar *the setting* as anything special or radically different from FR or GH, I do think Kalamar have had a number of very well-written crunchy books that translate well to other settings with no fuss, no muss---and those are the ones I gladly buy and use.
My post about Kalamar losing popularity was not meant as an attack on the quality of Kalamar's setting, but rather was made out of curiosity as to whether or not the setting is faring well or not, after having just gotten the news my FLGS is no longer carrying their products. In a later post, I did mention I didn't like the setting proper because it was "too generic" and thus not different enough from FR (and I now add GH into that mix of blandness as well). By generic, I mean the illogical "everything but the kitchen sink" approach which so many d20 publishers feel compelled to take (following WoTC's lead), where they tend to just cram in everything from the PHB, DMG and MM seemingly without much thought: Illogical settlement/city placement, illogical adjacent environments, illogical economies, illogical religions (and way too many), illogical number of high level NPCs, illogical languages, illogical amounts of magic, illogical effect of readily available magics on society and technology, etc. Kalamar certainly handles some of these areas better than FR or GH, but the overall impression I get is that it's "just another D&D fantasy world", and if I already have GH and FR, I don't really need it, as it's just not different enough. If I didn't already have GH and FR, and other settings besides---on top of my homebrews---then the Kalamar setting would probably be a viable option. I certainly don't hate it; I'm indifferent to it. Right now, I'm not looking for that type of setting, I'm looking for something similar to Conan's Hyborian Age. Something close enough to resemble stereotypical, "mainstream" D&D, but with a lower magic/grittier environment so as to *feel* different without actually being *too* different (like Dark Sun, Planescape or SpellJammer are way too weird for me).
PS: Matt, I wanted to say congrats on authoring Fields of Blood. I looked at all its rivals and thought they fell flat--way flat in comparison. FoB has it all. I'm grumbly about paying $30 for softcovers, so I haven't gotten around to buying it yet, but it's the only one in its field I'm considering buying. I'm also really impressed with your fast responses here to address erratta and stuff, and to get downloads up at Eden's site in support of your book.
, though not as well as FR or AU(Which disappeared as soon as it got here.) I'll certainly still be buying the books, if for no other reason than that they are chock full of niftiness that I can borrow for my campaigns.
