Kobold Press' MIDGARD Campaign Setting For 5E & Pathfinder

Over on Kickstarter, Kobold Press has launched an updated version of their Midgard campaign setting for D&D 5th Edition and the Pathfinder RPG. It's already funded, and consists of a 300+ page campaign setting book, plus separate supplemental books for each game system, and a book of short 5E adventures. For those not already familiar with Midgard, it has been around for a few years in various incarnations, and describes itself as "a world of dark roads and deep magic, firmly rooted in European myths and legends". You'll find the Kickstarter here.

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There are a few options for backers. Most people seem to be going for the 5E Basic Books Combo for $80 so far, which gets you the campaign setting hardcover, the Heroes Handbook hardcover, and the PDF versions of each. There's a lot more info about Midgard over here on Kobold Press' website.

 

[Lanliss]

I am loving the look of this whole thing. I wish I had money to spare, but please know that I am rooting for you to go as far as possible on this Kickstarter.

 

[Jester David]

I backed this so hard and encourage everyone to do the same... then tell their friends.

 

[RichGreen]

Hi there,

Thought I’d chip into this thread as one of the writers on the new campaign setting

I’ve been a fan of Midgard since 2007 when I first got involved in Open Design with the Empire of the Ghouls project. As a patron I joined in the discussions on the adventure and underdark campaign setting, voted in every poll, and argued passionately for the inclusion of deathcap mycolids (aka myconids) by stealing the slogan “make room for the mushrooms!” I got a few tiny credits in subsequent Open Design/Midgard projects like Six Arabian Nights, Wrath of the River King, Halls of the Mountain King and Courts of the Shadow Fey, before co-writing the Midgard Bestiary for 4th Edition with Brian Liberge back in 2012. Now I get to go back to Midgard and write new and updated lore on the setting and I’m loving it!

To anyone not sure about this Kickstarter, I would heartily recommend backing it. If you are new to Midgard, you are in for a treat. It has a very different, much darker, feel to the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, or any of the established D&D settings, and tons of amazing characters, cities and locations. I love Zobeck with its Kobold Ghetto and clockwork magic, the sinister Old Margreve forest, Per-Bastet, City of Cats in Nuria Natal, the River King’s Court in the Arbonesse, the lands of the Shadow Fey, the blasted and warped wastelands of the West, and the dozens of other adventure-filled places to put into your game.

And if you already have the 2012 version of the campaign setting, I think you’ll be even happier with the updated version. The timeline has moved on, so some characters haven't , new threats have risen to take their place and make a grab for power, and at least one kingdom has fallen to the forces of darkness.

I’ve been working on two regions – the Blood Kingdom of Morgau and the Wasted West. For both, I’ve taken the existing lore and expanded it, writing about the events of the last ten years, adding new characters, and detailing some of those mysterious locations that appeared on the original map that didn’t have any descriptions. If I’ve spotted any continuity errors in the older material, I’ve flagged these to Wolfgang and we’ve found a solution, and I’ve scoured my collection of Kobold Press books and magazines for cool snippets of lore to include. In the much-expanded Blood Kingdom chapter, there’s info on the Principalities’ conquest of the Electoral Kingdom of Krakova, the rise of the Blood Sisters, what’s lurks in Wendestal Wood and what Lord Fandorin is up to in his underground stronghold of Whispergloom in the Grisal Marches, plus loads of adventure hooks. And in the Wasted West… well, let’s just say that the Black Goat’s Flock’s antics might have changed a few things for the worse, and the dust goblins are on the march….

So, what are you waiting for? You don’t want to miss out on this!

Cheers


Richard

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

Hi,
I've been on the fence with this. I was wondering to what extent the clockwork are involved in the Midgard setting. I actually backed Wrath of the River King; Halls of the Mountain King and Courts of the Shadow Fey (along with Empire of Ghouls) back in the day. The clockwork thing for some reason bugs me (just a personal preference really and somewhat irrational I guess). How prevalent is the clockwork and that type of thing in this setting? Any information is greatly appreciated.

 

[Monkey King]

Clockwork stuff is quite common in 1 of the 8 regions in the setting, namely in the Crossroads.

Clockwork material is uncommon to non-existent pretty much everywhere else. There's a little bit in the 7 Cities region, tiny amounts in the Southlands, and essentially none in the Rothenian Plains, Northlands, Blood Kingdom, Dragon Empire, Grand Duchy, and Western Wastes.

So.... Yeah, it's not a steampunk/clockpunk setting by any stretch, though those who want that flavor can certainly find it.

 

[Zaukrie]

I will probably join also. Their 4e adventures were the best

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[lkj]

I'll admit I'm sorely tempted. But it would be more of an impulse purchase to get a pretty and cool thing. I'd want what look like beautiful print versions and it's hard dropping $80 on a materials I'm not sure I'd use (I'm not really short on materials between homebrew and published goods that I mine for ideas).

I wonder how big that players guide is by now with all the stretch goals.

AD

 

[Monkey King]

We're counting the pages in a rough way, and it's over 200 pages for the Heroes Handbook with all the new arcane and martial traditions, new races, all the spells and backgrounds. What's the page count on the PHB? Might be interesting to see how they compare...

 

[Raddu]

When we titled this project "Dark Roads & Deep Magic", we definitely wanted to give equal weight to both setting and sourcebook.

Midgard has always been a dark setting, fairly twisted in its biggest empires of evil, and one of the ways that works out best at the table is if the DM has some toys that the players don't know much about. In the early days of Zobeck and Midgard, those toys included necrophagy cast by the ghoul warlocks and later it grew to include Red Portal magic in the Southlands.

Read on to find out more about Void, Blood, and Doom magic.

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...tting-dark-roads-and-deep-magic/posts/1803629

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

Does anyone know what is the difference between the Heroes Handbook and Players Guide in a practical sense? I can see that the Heroes Handbook adds new races; backgrounds and alters some classes but how is that distinctive from the Players Guide which adds racial lore, class options etc? Sorry for the questions. Thanks!!