Vanuslux
Explorer
Regional Settings: Kael'Myn is the first pdf product by Vintage Sunshine. It's a short region book detailing an area that was once a terrestrial enclave of celestials who eventually left after a nasty war. I picked it up mainly because it was cheap...$2 for 24 pages isn't bad at all for a good d20 pdf. The question that I seek to answer in this review is "Is this a good pdf?” The short answer is "Yes...for the most part."
Appearances - The cover is pretty simplistic...a sketch of an alabaster drake's head set against a green textured background with a thick black border. It looks nice onscreen, though it will drink ink like crazy if you print it. As far as interior artwork the illustrations are pretty sketchy and not very appealing, but I do have to give credit for a decent map...something a lot of PDF publishers just can't seem to get the hang of. The only complaint about the maps is that the image of the full map is a little blurry, making one have to squint a little to read some of the smaller text. However, the "zoomed in" images of areas of the map are pretty clear. The layout is pretty good, but I curse them for not having the chapters bookmarked.
Content -
Chapter 1 - Life & History (2 pages): We're given a brief history and a time line for the region. It doesn't go into too much depth but that's somewhat of a good thing since more history means more baggage for slotting it into one's own world. What history is there is to the point and doesn't waste words with too much fluff, getting straight to the pertinent points.
One minor irritation with this chapter, however, is that the timeline lists several events that aren't even touched upon in the history. For example, we know that a huntress named Nikurae killed the great dragon Klaunthaunil...it's mentioned in both the timeline and in the history...however, the timeline tells us that 94 years later Nikurae kills herself over the death of her daughter with nary a clue in the history about it. This is a pretty insignificant gripe, but I would have preferred that the description of the history have been complimentary of the timeline...otherwise, we end up with a bunch of events marked on a calendar without any context. The significant gripe is that this chapter could have stood to be more than 2 pages. It was interesting enough to disappoint me that there wasn't more fleshing out of the regions past.
Chapter 2 - Characters (4 pages): Here's where we get most of the information relevant to PCs. First we get a run down of the races and how they differ from the standard versions of the races. We also get a new race, the Vunshyr'Kael. They're basically humanoid descendants of the great dragon who bred himself an army centuries ago...being significantly weaker than their ancestors thanks to inbreeding and centuries of comfort. Surprisingly they're a relatively balanced race without any need of level adjustment. I'd have no qualms about allowing them in my games.
Next we get information about how the standard classes fit into the region. Not a whole lot different than how they fit into typical settings, but we're given names to the organizations they might be connected to or locations where they're prominent.
After classes come feats. There are 9 feats. Some, like Viridian Method which just about any Sorcerer would want to take (meager requirement for a great benefit...more known spells of any level the sorcerer can cast), are too good but most are reasonable. One thing I like about the feats is that most are designed to tie directly into the culture and history of the region.
The chapter closes with a couple of new spells. Both are too powerful for their level in my opinion. While Klaunthaunil’s Seeker is a neat concept, Human Bane is rather uninspired (it's a ray that does more damage to humans than other creatures. Whoopee.)
Chapter 3 - Geography (5 pages): This is my favorite part of the book. It describes the region of Kael'Myn itself. Like everything in this book, it earns points for efficiently giving the useful information, leaving most of the fluff to the GM's imagination. It gives me a good feel for the various areas without handholding me or making me feel like the writer is trying to push his vision down my throat. Kael'Myn is a neat chunk of land that is interesting yet generic enough that I can slot it into my campaign world without too much sweat.
Chapter 4 - Organizations (3 pages): In this chapter we're treated to some of the organizations in Kael'Myn. Included are the Ivory Guard (somewhat of a cross between a magic academy and a magic militia), the Company of Gold (A knightly order), the Sidereal Society (sages and philosophers working together to preserve and promote knowledge and art), the Obsidian Sisterhood (a group of female rangers with some odd practices), and Chrysanthemum (An order of creepy druids who seem pretty self-serving). There's also a short list of other organizations with just a name and descriptions as brief as the ones I've given to the organizations I just mentioned. The fully described organizations are pretty interesting despite the brief amount of information given on them.
Chapter 5 - Monsters (3 pages): The Alabaster Drake, the Viridian Drake, and a monster-style write up of the Vunshyr'Kael, the race given PC information in Chapter 2. It's nothing really worth writing home about.
Chapter 6 - Weaving Tips (1 page): A short bit on how the product was written to be slotted into an existing campaign and gives a short list of deities for those who want to use the setting as a springboard for a new campaign world. The list could also be useful if you want the region to have its own religions.
In Conclusion - I consider this supplement two bucks well spent. The most disappointing thing about it is that it isn't a larger product. The history section could have been expanded just by giving some detail to the events on that timeline that aren't touched upon and the Organizations chapter would have been much better if instead of the list of other organizations at the end they'd actually wrote them up. Some of the crunch could have stood a little more balance tweaking too but no major problems. Overall it was a great recipe that was just a little undercooked. I've decided to let this one barely scrape into a four rating thanks to the amount of imagination and utility one gets for a great price.
Appearances - The cover is pretty simplistic...a sketch of an alabaster drake's head set against a green textured background with a thick black border. It looks nice onscreen, though it will drink ink like crazy if you print it. As far as interior artwork the illustrations are pretty sketchy and not very appealing, but I do have to give credit for a decent map...something a lot of PDF publishers just can't seem to get the hang of. The only complaint about the maps is that the image of the full map is a little blurry, making one have to squint a little to read some of the smaller text. However, the "zoomed in" images of areas of the map are pretty clear. The layout is pretty good, but I curse them for not having the chapters bookmarked.
Content -
Chapter 1 - Life & History (2 pages): We're given a brief history and a time line for the region. It doesn't go into too much depth but that's somewhat of a good thing since more history means more baggage for slotting it into one's own world. What history is there is to the point and doesn't waste words with too much fluff, getting straight to the pertinent points.
One minor irritation with this chapter, however, is that the timeline lists several events that aren't even touched upon in the history. For example, we know that a huntress named Nikurae killed the great dragon Klaunthaunil...it's mentioned in both the timeline and in the history...however, the timeline tells us that 94 years later Nikurae kills herself over the death of her daughter with nary a clue in the history about it. This is a pretty insignificant gripe, but I would have preferred that the description of the history have been complimentary of the timeline...otherwise, we end up with a bunch of events marked on a calendar without any context. The significant gripe is that this chapter could have stood to be more than 2 pages. It was interesting enough to disappoint me that there wasn't more fleshing out of the regions past.
Chapter 2 - Characters (4 pages): Here's where we get most of the information relevant to PCs. First we get a run down of the races and how they differ from the standard versions of the races. We also get a new race, the Vunshyr'Kael. They're basically humanoid descendants of the great dragon who bred himself an army centuries ago...being significantly weaker than their ancestors thanks to inbreeding and centuries of comfort. Surprisingly they're a relatively balanced race without any need of level adjustment. I'd have no qualms about allowing them in my games.
Next we get information about how the standard classes fit into the region. Not a whole lot different than how they fit into typical settings, but we're given names to the organizations they might be connected to or locations where they're prominent.
After classes come feats. There are 9 feats. Some, like Viridian Method which just about any Sorcerer would want to take (meager requirement for a great benefit...more known spells of any level the sorcerer can cast), are too good but most are reasonable. One thing I like about the feats is that most are designed to tie directly into the culture and history of the region.
The chapter closes with a couple of new spells. Both are too powerful for their level in my opinion. While Klaunthaunil’s Seeker is a neat concept, Human Bane is rather uninspired (it's a ray that does more damage to humans than other creatures. Whoopee.)
Chapter 3 - Geography (5 pages): This is my favorite part of the book. It describes the region of Kael'Myn itself. Like everything in this book, it earns points for efficiently giving the useful information, leaving most of the fluff to the GM's imagination. It gives me a good feel for the various areas without handholding me or making me feel like the writer is trying to push his vision down my throat. Kael'Myn is a neat chunk of land that is interesting yet generic enough that I can slot it into my campaign world without too much sweat.
Chapter 4 - Organizations (3 pages): In this chapter we're treated to some of the organizations in Kael'Myn. Included are the Ivory Guard (somewhat of a cross between a magic academy and a magic militia), the Company of Gold (A knightly order), the Sidereal Society (sages and philosophers working together to preserve and promote knowledge and art), the Obsidian Sisterhood (a group of female rangers with some odd practices), and Chrysanthemum (An order of creepy druids who seem pretty self-serving). There's also a short list of other organizations with just a name and descriptions as brief as the ones I've given to the organizations I just mentioned. The fully described organizations are pretty interesting despite the brief amount of information given on them.
Chapter 5 - Monsters (3 pages): The Alabaster Drake, the Viridian Drake, and a monster-style write up of the Vunshyr'Kael, the race given PC information in Chapter 2. It's nothing really worth writing home about.
Chapter 6 - Weaving Tips (1 page): A short bit on how the product was written to be slotted into an existing campaign and gives a short list of deities for those who want to use the setting as a springboard for a new campaign world. The list could also be useful if you want the region to have its own religions.
In Conclusion - I consider this supplement two bucks well spent. The most disappointing thing about it is that it isn't a larger product. The history section could have been expanded just by giving some detail to the events on that timeline that aren't touched upon and the Organizations chapter would have been much better if instead of the list of other organizations at the end they'd actually wrote them up. Some of the crunch could have stood a little more balance tweaking too but no major problems. Overall it was a great recipe that was just a little undercooked. I've decided to let this one barely scrape into a four rating thanks to the amount of imagination and utility one gets for a great price.
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