Ptolus: The World of Praemal - Who has it?

[catsclaw227]

I was going to go online and pick up my (Free!) copy of the World of Praemal and I was wondering if anyone else has gotten theirs yet.

What are your thoughts?

I will post mine when I get a chance to go through it.

 

[prosfilaes]

Well, it certainly makes it hard to show any significant part to the players; for example, in the discussion of a fairly common magical substance, he refers to a detail in Jabal Shammar that should come as a complete surprise to the players.

 

[Ryltar]

I've downloaded it, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. More to come later . However, I'm kind of disappointed with some (by all means, not all) of the art pieces, especially those in the chapter headers.

 

[Psion]

My "random thoughts upon browsing"

1. I'd like to see that art obscured by the map - it looks cool
2. Another flying race... wonder if this one will be worth its LA... nope, guess not.
3. Litorians - bite me "furry race" hatahs!
4. I see art re-use!
5. Chaositech and the Galchutt again, eh? Wonder if he bothers fixng the glaring holes in Chaositech construction rules.

Just gut reactions thus far...

 

[Mark Hope]

Got mine yesterday - browsed through it and liked most of what I saw. It's cool to get a look at meaty excerpts from the Ptolus book in advance of the August release. I particularly enjoyed reading more detailed descriptions of the history of Praemal and seeing the capsule descriptions of the other cities and geographical areas. I've gone from being a Ptolus-sceptic to eager anticipation of the product. Monte knows how to build anticipation and interest, that's for sure.

 

[Tharen the Damned]

I browse through Praemal and love the book.

Psion, I do not think Monte will update his Chaositech rules. As I understand it, Chaositech was first in his Ptolus campaign and then he thought about putting the stuff in a book. Same goes for the Lovecraftian Galchutt.

And yes there is art reuse, I saw pics from BoHM and Requiem for a God. But as there is so much new art, I am willing to forgive...
Many of the new art is more like pictures for a travel guide than for a RPG. i love this, it brings the feeling of the city even more to life.

I hardly can wait to hold my Ptolus Book in hands in August.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Haven't noticed the art reuse yet but I haven't gotten into it that deep yet either.

I hope that art reuse is at least good art. I was disappointed by the whole "director's edition" of AE which had a lot of terrible art added to it.

 

[Odhanan]

Got it, started reading it in bed yesterday. It reads really well. I'm somewhere in the background of Hell right now. I've been familiar with Praemal/Ptolus for years now, like many other fans of Monte's work. There were hints as to the complete background of the world, and surely I already know chunks of it, but it's great to see it all pieced together in one place.

That said, do I like the background? Damn right I do! It's a blast to read, and every page I find some bits that I could use as encounters, adventures or complete campaigns. I can't wait to run a campaign using Praemal.

What I like particularly: the whole Cosmology so far, the "late European"/slightly German feel of the Empire of Tarsis with the Prustans and so on, the political climate which reminds me vaguely of the Roman Civil War, the influence of HP Lovecraft's work, the minerals and metals that reminded me strongly of the alloys and minerals of MERP/RM (which is a good thing).

 

[Psion]

I hope that art reuse is at least good art.

Well, off the top, there's a Jennifer Meyer peice from Book of Hallowed Might (I, I think) with the winged lion. I like her art, so that gets a thumbs up from me.

The banewarrens cover. Which is decent, if perhaps too familiar.

The holy symbol from banewarrens. That's just a bit of garnish.

The chaos cultists from chaositech.

There might be some from AE, which I have but don't use regularly so I am less familiar with. I do like Jason Engle's art, though, so that's a thumbs up for me.


Side note - the extensive use of chaos cults will slot right into my ongoing game. I may get something out of my money after all...

 

[shaylon]

I got it yesterday but am only about halfway through. I really like it so far, although I will second that it might not be suitable for players to read. Of course, that was Monte's intention, which is why the Player's Guide came out with limited details.

I hope to finish it today. My initial impression is great. I like the indexing and cross referencing in the sidebars, that will make for an easier time to find what you are looking for.

-Shay