johnsemlak
First Post
double post
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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Kalamar losing popularity?
- Thread starter Iron_Chef
- Start date
Crothian
First Post
Iron_Chef said:So, to get away from political correctness, I'm hopping onto Conan d20 as soon as the book comes out, though I was tempted to run Thieves' World before I realized the Conan release date was so close. That, and the old Chaosium box set from 1981 would need some major conversion work to d20.
YA, but I've done a lot of conversations of it right here on these message boards. And it was simple and easy to do. You don't need to convert everything under the sun, as long as the feel of Sanctuary is captured; that's what counts.
Hard8Staff
First Post
Hi all. Just popping in to clarify a few things regarding kalamar sales/popularity.
1) it's true that the latest Kalamar books are not for sale at Walmart.com. In fact, no Kenzer and Company product is for sale through Wall mart -- our CFO has a problem with their terms.
2) Loona Port of Intrigue is not yet for sale on Amazon.com. Steve Johansson ran off to a lengthy vacation in Spain before giving Jen the ISBN so she couldn't post it there. That should change this week (--looks up at calendar, notices it's Friday --), er, next week some time.
3) To the poster that suggested Kalamar was never popular -- per our distributors it outsells almost all non-WoTC products d20/D&D/OGL by a considerable margin when comparing apples to apples (i.e., adventures to adventures, etc etc.). I haven't checked recently, but I'm pretty sure few if any settings outside of FR have sold more than the KoK CS.
4) Just to clarify on the dates, the first printing of Kalamar was in 1994, 2nd printing in 1995, 3rd printing (for third edition D&D) was in 2001 and the fourth printing was in 2001 as well.
5) Dangerous Denizens: Monsters of Tellene was the first 3.5 book out last year (and if you like monsters with a bit of background and detail, I HIGHLY recommend this one). Stand and Deliver was the very first 3.5 adventure.
6) We're in the process of reprinting the Kalamar DM screen (think I saw a post or question on that)
7) Actually, WoTC is supposed to provide some support for Kalamar per our agreement.
I'll try to pop back in for another look in case you guys have more questions/comments that you think I might be able to address.
Game on!
David Kenzer
PS I have played and run extensive campaigns in GH and FR before designing KoK. I enjoyed them both immensely, though I must admit that I preferred the first edition of FR over the later printings. I admit further that GH was my first love (as far as settings go. C'mon people!)
1) it's true that the latest Kalamar books are not for sale at Walmart.com. In fact, no Kenzer and Company product is for sale through Wall mart -- our CFO has a problem with their terms.
2) Loona Port of Intrigue is not yet for sale on Amazon.com. Steve Johansson ran off to a lengthy vacation in Spain before giving Jen the ISBN so she couldn't post it there. That should change this week (--looks up at calendar, notices it's Friday --), er, next week some time.
3) To the poster that suggested Kalamar was never popular -- per our distributors it outsells almost all non-WoTC products d20/D&D/OGL by a considerable margin when comparing apples to apples (i.e., adventures to adventures, etc etc.). I haven't checked recently, but I'm pretty sure few if any settings outside of FR have sold more than the KoK CS.
4) Just to clarify on the dates, the first printing of Kalamar was in 1994, 2nd printing in 1995, 3rd printing (for third edition D&D) was in 2001 and the fourth printing was in 2001 as well.
5) Dangerous Denizens: Monsters of Tellene was the first 3.5 book out last year (and if you like monsters with a bit of background and detail, I HIGHLY recommend this one). Stand and Deliver was the very first 3.5 adventure.
6) We're in the process of reprinting the Kalamar DM screen (think I saw a post or question on that)
7) Actually, WoTC is supposed to provide some support for Kalamar per our agreement.
I'll try to pop back in for another look in case you guys have more questions/comments that you think I might be able to address.
Game on!
David Kenzer
PS I have played and run extensive campaigns in GH and FR before designing KoK. I enjoyed them both immensely, though I must admit that I preferred the first edition of FR over the later printings. I admit further that GH was my first love (as far as settings go. C'mon people!)
Ashrem Bayle
Explorer
I bought into Kalamar because it was originally billed as a low magic setting. Unfortunately, Kalamar's level of magic struck me as no different from that of Greyhawk. That dissapointment, coupled with the aformentioned "soulessness" of the product was enough for me to trade my Kalamar stuff for the revised Starwars d20.
But, now that I've spent some (a lot of) time with Midnight, I could definately see using it's magic system in a Kalamar game.
But, now that I've spent some (a lot of) time with Midnight, I could definately see using it's magic system in a Kalamar game.
OK, I'm not here to bash KoK, I'm just trying to understand what all the fuss is about it 
And hopefully be convinced that I haven't wasted my money and time on this campaign setting...
I've got a couple of KoK books and supplements. I think the 3.0 GM screen is absolutely superb - the best quality and most useful GM screen since the DGP MegaTraveller screen.
But the books and stuff are ... well, I don't know what all the hype about Kalamar is. I have the Players Guide, the Campaign Setting and the Atlas.
The Atlas is superb quality, but I have to say, the other two books just aren't doing anything for me to bring this world to life - and I'd like to know why (any pointers to pages etc would be most interested - I really want a return on my investment of time and money in Kalamar, but am afraid I won't get it and won't plough any more into the game at this stage).
I read the Campaign Setting, and it was very dry. No real flavour I could see. Having read the CS book and the Players Guide - I *still* don't get the role of Dwarves in Kalamar (so I have a soft spot for them from my Warhammer FRP days ). I see some comments that Dwarves within Kalamar are often mistaken as slaves - yet I know there must be Dwarven kingdoms somewhere, but the campaign setting only describes the human nations.
Indeed. the whole CS book treats the reader as though they already know all about the land, and its given a gazetter of nations rather than of peoples and events. The back of the book that claims you'll be immediately drawn into a rich and real setting just bounced off me after I opened the book.
At this point, I should confess that I have been FR as a campaign setting all my AD&D and DnD life. I never tried KoK before DnD 3rd edition. Is it just that I'm missing the flavour because the DnD Campaign Setting doesn't do a good job of bringing it alive? Are there pre-3rd edition campaigns settings I should consider looking at (again, not prepared to waste time or money - so I dont want to chase them up on ebay, but buying a PDF would be good)?
As I said, I've spent some time and money buying and reading these books, and it would be nice to have another campaign setting if I could only enjoy Kalamar - but if it doesnt draw me in as the GM, how am I supposed to get the players onboard?
And hopefully be convinced that I haven't wasted my money and time on this campaign setting...I've got a couple of KoK books and supplements. I think the 3.0 GM screen is absolutely superb - the best quality and most useful GM screen since the DGP MegaTraveller screen.
But the books and stuff are ... well, I don't know what all the hype about Kalamar is. I have the Players Guide, the Campaign Setting and the Atlas.
The Atlas is superb quality, but I have to say, the other two books just aren't doing anything for me to bring this world to life - and I'd like to know why (any pointers to pages etc would be most interested - I really want a return on my investment of time and money in Kalamar, but am afraid I won't get it and won't plough any more into the game at this stage).
I read the Campaign Setting, and it was very dry. No real flavour I could see. Having read the CS book and the Players Guide - I *still* don't get the role of Dwarves in Kalamar (so I have a soft spot for them from my Warhammer FRP days
). I see some comments that Dwarves within Kalamar are often mistaken as slaves - yet I know there must be Dwarven kingdoms somewhere, but the campaign setting only describes the human nations.Indeed. the whole CS book treats the reader as though they already know all about the land, and its given a gazetter of nations rather than of peoples and events. The back of the book that claims you'll be immediately drawn into a rich and real setting just bounced off me after I opened the book.
At this point, I should confess that I have been FR as a campaign setting all my AD&D and DnD life. I never tried KoK before DnD 3rd edition. Is it just that I'm missing the flavour because the DnD Campaign Setting doesn't do a good job of bringing it alive? Are there pre-3rd edition campaigns settings I should consider looking at (again, not prepared to waste time or money - so I dont want to chase them up on ebay, but buying a PDF would be good)?
As I said, I've spent some time and money buying and reading these books, and it would be nice to have another campaign setting if I could only enjoy Kalamar - but if it doesnt draw me in as the GM, how am I supposed to get the players onboard?
Mystery Man
First Post
An example of this dilemma would be a very good friend and DM of mine who ran Greyhawk for years. He's pushing 40 now so its been a long time. He tried to run an FR campaign and fell short of the quality campaigns that he usually ran because he first love was GH and that is the setting he spent so much time and money on. Plus it was what brought him into DnD in the first place. As with FR, it was my first love and what brought me into DnD and I plan on running it until it no longer Wow's me. Something I don't think is going to happen any time soon. Anyway, getting back to this friend of mine. His campaign was floundering and his players were not having any fun. Finally they put together and intervention of sorts and begged him to go back to GH. Once he did, in his words it was like "coming home again" and his DMing career was back on track, players were happy and life was good againddougan said:
. So, my advice to you would be to stick with what you know and love and if you keep the Kalamar books use them to mine for ideas to bring into your FR campaign and don't force yourself to run something you'll not be as unthusiastic about. Your campaign and your players will only suffer for it.
WizarDru
Adventurer
I like donuts. Particularly French Krullers, but some places don't carry 'em.
I have to agree with arcady's first point, way above. I've always viewed Kalamar as 'the other Greyhawk'. I don't really think it fits with FR, so much.
Either way, I've got too many settings that I don't have time to use, now.
And Nightfall, it would be nice if you could turn it down to 10, now and then. Or else we'll lock you in a room with diaglo, and have you two debate whether OD&D or Scarred Lands is better, and wait for the oxygen to run out.
I have to agree with arcady's first point, way above. I've always viewed Kalamar as 'the other Greyhawk'. I don't really think it fits with FR, so much.
Either way, I've got too many settings that I don't have time to use, now.
And Nightfall, it would be nice if you could turn it down to 10, now and then. Or else we'll lock you in a room with diaglo, and have you two debate whether OD&D or Scarred Lands is better, and wait for the oxygen to run out.
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