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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lwmarti" data-source="post: 2011138" data-attributes="member: 15912">About 28 years or so ago, the Wilderlands was the setting for the first D&D campaign that I ever played. Because of this, I have a sentimental attachment for the setting that might not be entirely rational, so I've waited a while after the publishing of the Player's Guide to the Wilderlands (PGW) and tested the material in a game before commenting on it. Even after waiting a while for my initial enthusiasm to die down, I have to say that I'm still quite impressed with this book.The Player's Guide to the Wilderlands is a 128-page paperback that sells for $23.95, and is worth every penny of that purchase price. The PGW is an overview of the Wilderlands, the old original D&D setting that was home to the City State of the Invincible Overlord, Tegel Manor, and other places that were described in the earliest of D&D products way back in the 1970's, and it's the first in a series of products from Necromancer Games that updates the Wilderlands to the newer (revised edition) D&D rules.What is the Wilderlands like? It's like a combination of the Conan, Middle Earth and Lankhmar stories, with the odd bit of high technology thrown in to liven things up. It's a vast unexplored wilderness waiting for players to carve out a niche for themselves. It's a place full of intrigue between powerful city-states. It's also a low-magic world. If that sounds good to you, then the PGW can help you take the first steps into that world.What exactly do you get in the PGW? Well, there's an extensive section on the history of the Wilderlands, from the distant past to the present day, including a discussion of the calendar used in the game world. There's a section on character types that are found in the Wilderlands, including several races of men and the unusual languages that they speak. There are also new classes in this section including alchemists, amazons and sages. The concept of "play balance" was thrown out the window here, making amazons fairly tough. I was never a big fan of play balance to begin with, but there are certainly those to whom this will cause some distress. There's an overview of the Wilderlands map (attached to the book with some sort of rubbery adhesive that takes a bit of rubbing with the tip of your finger to fully remove) as well as an overview of important cities on the map and other key geographic features. There's an overview of the City State of the Invincible Overlord, and there's an overview of the gods of the Wilderlands. It has everything that you need to try the Wilderlands for the first time, or to try the Wilderlands again if you've been away from it for a while. It's only missing two things: a table of contents and an index. Come on, guys, this is a reference work! You need to have either a table of contents or an index! That's the only fault that I can find with this book. Sure, there are a few odd typographical errors here and there, but the quality seems much higher than the typical d20 product on my shelf. The best part is that the material in the PGW is just the tip of the iceberg. Necromancer Games will be releasing an entire book containing a detailed description of the City State of the Invincible Overlord and a boxed set containing a detailed description of what's out there on the 18 different maps that comprise the Wilderlands. So if you can tolerate the lack of a table of contents, there's no better way to either get acquainted or reacquainted with one of the true classics of gaming.</blockquote>

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