Nellisir
Hero
Re: Oriental Adventures
Yes...like I said, Oriental Adventures includes material on Rokugan as a default campaign setting, much as the 1st edition Oriental Adventures presented Kara-Tur, albeit Rokugan is less pervasive in this edition than Kara-Tur was in that. The Nyambe sourcebook, although subtitled African Adventures, is, to my eye, more a sourcebook for a single campaign setting than a toolkit for many. A DM could certainly used the material in Nyambe to craft a custom setting, but that can be said of (almost) any campaign setting.
And conversely, I was much happier with Oriental Adventures than with Nyambe. The Rokugan material present in Oriental Adventures is a) clearly designated and set apart, and b) only a portion of the material presented. The same is not true of Nyambe.
I would consider any non-european sourcebook a good thing, but I'm more interested in a toolkit style product than another campaign setting. Aborigine Adventures? Cool, sold. The Dreaming, an Outback Campaign? Ho-hum, maybe.
It seems clear we view Nyambe & OA in different lights. I'll freely admit that one of the most offputting things about Nyambe to me were the "elves with tails"-- suddenly we've got elves with tails, feral halflings, black-skinned gnomes, and above-ground dwarves. Without a solid grounding in african mythology, I can only draw two conclusions; either african myths eerily echo european myths, or Chris Dolunt spent some time retrofitting african myths into generic D&D molds. Either way, it was distinctly disappointing.
I'm not sure if you wanted more campaign material in Oriental Adventures, or less. Nyambe presents a single setting interwoven with the game mechanics and "toolkit" material, while OA in most cases separates out the Rokugan material, and presents advice and suggestions for creating your own settings, or using Kara-Tur. Chapter Ten is a short chapter, but it's there.
Either way, I hope you get what you want, and I get what I want.
Cheers
Nell.
Who really wants a dark ages - medieval Russia-style sourcebook/setting.
Edit - the whole point of this is to say, "no, Oriental Adventures is not "just" a Rokugan primer", or it's less so than African Adventures is "just" a Nyambe primer.
d20books said:
Yes...like I said, Oriental Adventures includes material on Rokugan as a default campaign setting, much as the 1st edition Oriental Adventures presented Kara-Tur, albeit Rokugan is less pervasive in this edition than Kara-Tur was in that. The Nyambe sourcebook, although subtitled African Adventures, is, to my eye, more a sourcebook for a single campaign setting than a toolkit for many. A DM could certainly used the material in Nyambe to craft a custom setting, but that can be said of (almost) any campaign setting.
And conversely, I was much happier with Oriental Adventures than with Nyambe. The Rokugan material present in Oriental Adventures is a) clearly designated and set apart, and b) only a portion of the material presented. The same is not true of Nyambe.
If there was a new Oriental Adventures put out by Chris Dolunt, I would not hesitate to pick it up. Actually, I would not hesitate to pick up any new non-adventure material by Chris Dolunt.
I would consider any non-european sourcebook a good thing, but I'm more interested in a toolkit style product than another campaign setting. Aborigine Adventures? Cool, sold. The Dreaming, an Outback Campaign? Ho-hum, maybe.
It seems clear we view Nyambe & OA in different lights. I'll freely admit that one of the most offputting things about Nyambe to me were the "elves with tails"-- suddenly we've got elves with tails, feral halflings, black-skinned gnomes, and above-ground dwarves. Without a solid grounding in african mythology, I can only draw two conclusions; either african myths eerily echo european myths, or Chris Dolunt spent some time retrofitting african myths into generic D&D molds. Either way, it was distinctly disappointing.
I'm not sure if you wanted more campaign material in Oriental Adventures, or less. Nyambe presents a single setting interwoven with the game mechanics and "toolkit" material, while OA in most cases separates out the Rokugan material, and presents advice and suggestions for creating your own settings, or using Kara-Tur. Chapter Ten is a short chapter, but it's there.
Either way, I hope you get what you want, and I get what I want.
Cheers
Nell.
Who really wants a dark ages - medieval Russia-style sourcebook/setting.
Edit - the whole point of this is to say, "no, Oriental Adventures is not "just" a Rokugan primer", or it's less so than African Adventures is "just" a Nyambe primer.
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