D&D General Kingdoms of Kalamar vs Greyhawk? And any good modules?

[earthsea_wizard]

I love the setting.

The god of undeath rewards his followers based on their kill-counts, it's awesome!

Username and avatar checks out.

 

[Libertad]

As someone who briefly read the 3.0 Campaign Setting secondhand and mostly knows the setting for its terrible balance, I'm interested in hearing more about the highlights of the setting and potential for adventures. I will admit that I tried reading the Svimozhia sourcebook, which left a rather negative first impression in a "trying too hard to be edgy" sort of way.

As others noted though; Kalamar is on a tipping point.

It tells you all the places that are right about to have issues. But it helps you understand why in ways that make sense.

So there is drama there. And because the world also makes sense when I encounter a wizard making a power grab I don’t get hung up on why his castle is there… I can work with what they give me, but a drama GM can also work with the tensions.

The downside is writing styles change over time and they may not present it as a story as easily as modern tRPG writers do.

But they do put the hooks there.

That's the perfect summation of Kingdoms of Kalamar. When I first read it, my first impression was that nothing was happening. Then I realized that the entire setting was perched on the edge. There was no metaplot at work, just meaty hook after hook, waiting for the PCs to come along and change everything.

Can you give some examples of "on the edge" events that would make a good start for an adventure or campaign?

More than any other setting it seems to me to be one that you really have to take the time to let sink in, perhaps revisiting it several times. And then something clicks (or does not).

What sourcebooks helped you along this path? There's already quite a few "basic" ones for various editions and multiple ones for 3rd Edition. There's the 3.0 Kingdoms of Kalamar Campaign Setting, a 3.5 Player's Guide to the Sovereign Lands, and a 3.5 Player's Primer.

 

[earthsea_wizard]

What sourcebooks helped you along this path? There's already quite a few "basic" ones for various editions and multiple ones for 3rd Edition. There's the 3.0 Kingdoms of Kalamar Campaign Setting, a 3.5 Player's Guide to the Sovereign Lands, and a 3.5 Player's Primer.

None yet, actually. That is just the overwhelming impression I get from anecdotes of those who enjoy the setting (I've been doing a lot of thread digging about the setting the last couple of months and also remember convos from back in the day along these lines).

I've actually asked the same question to a few people in regards to which sourcebook should I start with to really get hooked, and have yet to receive a distinct asnwer.

I did see a comment somewhere that the Player's Guide or Primer (can't recall which) was written as an answer to those who deemed the campaign setting book to be a dry read.

I have a hard time doing a lot of reading on a screen. It's not a physical issue, I just find it entirely unsatisfying but can dig into most books given a hard copy and a comfy place to sit. Unfortunately I am in a new country for the next few years and it isn't one in which I can find RPG books for sale or have them shipped to me for reasonable prices. I am making a trip home in December and am considering grabbing a few Kalamar books to bring back with me.

I imagine reading the old Kalamar forum on the Kenzer boards would be helpful but it is not really accesible through the wayback machine. I can only reach select posts and pages, most are broken links. If a more internet savy person knows a way to get better access to those posts that would be cool.