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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neuroglyph" data-source="post: 5336321" data-attributes="member: 85633">World-building can be one of the most rewarding and yet to most frustrating tasks a Dungeon Master can undertake. Besides creating new maps to encompass the borders of the “known” world, there is still the overwhelming tasks of populating the lands with various races of peoples and monsters, placing cities and towns and villages, drawing political borders – is it any wonder that early geographers gave up trying to figure out who dwelt just over the horizon, and proclaimed, “There be dragons here”?<a href="http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=83489&filters=0_0_0_31813_0?affiliate_id=270466" target="_blank">[align=right]http://www.neuroglyphgames.com/rpgblogs/home/neurogly/public_html/rpgblogs/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/kbgp-ii-cover.jpg[/align]</a> But there is a new product from Chaotic Shiny Productions - a well-known resource on the web for the wide variety of free random generators usable in almost any type of role-playing game, whether fantasy or modern or science-fiction – which can help fantasy world-builders create even more details for their settings with Kingdom Builder Generator Pack II. Kingdom Builder Generator Pack II <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Programmer: Hannah Lipsky</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Publisher: Chaotic Shiny Productions</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Year: 2010</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Media: Application (.NET)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cost: $3.95</li> </ul>Kingdom Builder Generator Pack II is a set of random generators which can be used to create heroic fantasy type kingdoms in quickly and easily. It is designed generically enough to be used with almost any version of Dungeons & Dragons, as well as with almost any other fantasy RPG system out on the market. It consists of seven random generators for creating fashion, armies, laws, place names, persons of intrigue, events, and even flags usable with kingdoms, city-states, countries, or even empires. There is even an eighth “meta-generator” which creates a detailed kingdom, drawing information from six of the other seven generators into one descriptive text. The flag generator also contains a graphical interface for creating not only a textual description of a flag or banner, but also a full-color design as well.  Production Quality The production quality of the Kingdom Builder Generator Pack is quite good overall, with an easy-to learn interface which is generally straightforward and intuitive. The flag generator presents a little challenge to learn, but it produces some startling results even left on full random settings. The Program As mentioned previously, the Kingdom Builder Generator Pack II (KBGP II) is a suite of seven random generators, with a eighth generator to create a complete kingdom or realm. The eighth generator also incorporates a little piece of the original Kingdom Builder Generator Pack (click to see a <a href="http://www.neuroglyphgames.com/pre-release-review-of-kingdom-builder-generator-pack-by-chaotic-shiny-productions" target="_blank">review</a> of the previous generator), which randomizes a name for the fantasy realm and the nature of its ruler. It should be noted that some of the random generators in the KBGP II are available on the <a href="http://chaoticshiny.com/" target="_blank">Chaotic Shiny website</a>, such as the fashions, law, army, place name, and flag generators, but the versions used in this product have been enhanced with additional features – like the graphic component of the flag generator!  [Reviewer’s Note: If you have never checked out the Chaotic Shiny generators, feel free to click the link above and take a look! It only takes a few clicks to come up with some fascinating and inspiring ideas for almost any campaign.] Individually, each generator in KGBP II are designed to up to 50 at a time with just a couple clicks, excepting the “meta” whole kingdom generator and the flag generator which are designed for single outputs. Generated results can be saved to file, printed, and even edited in the program’s output box, and there are is an option to retain previous results in multiple generators simultaneously in order to avoid losing an inspiring idea or design. Here are some examples of the outputs from the fashion, army, law, and place name generators, which are similar to the results obtainable from Chaotic Shiny website: Fashion  Army   Law   Place Names   Obviously, as with any random generator, not all the outputs will be perfect, and sometimes will be downright humorous. But nevertheless, it is fairly clear that even with the occasional oddity, the outputs from the KBGP II will save a Dungeon Master considerable time and effort, even if a few of the results need a little tweaking to be useful. It should be mentioned that the place name generator got quite a few nice enhancements prior to being inserted into the KBGP II suite. An additional menu was added to the generator, which is not available with the free web version on the Chaotic Shiny site. This new drop-down allows the user to select a particular terrain for generating names, which is handy if trying to come up with the names of five rivers flowing through a kingdom, rather than hoping for a rive name to pop up randomly amongst the output.But it is the other three generators (and the final meta generator) which are really quite impressive, and the conspirator and event generators alone almost make the product worth picking up! The conspirator generator can create up to 50 named NPCs in a single click, detailing their names, likes, dislikes, prejudices, possible locations, and general physical appearance! This generator is clearly usable not only for creating villains and unusual characters within a city-state or country, but can be used to make interesting NPCs around town or for a particular adventure, to add details and quirks which a DM might not think to include. The event generator is a collection of odd events, many of which could be used as adventure hooks, tavern tales, or even “red herrings” to incite the heroes to investigate. Conspirators   Events   The flag generator is really fun to play with, although it took a bit to figure out what combination of buttons and drop-downs I would need to create a flag to my liking. Left on full random mode, the generator can create a few really nifty looking flags, but mostly it creates eye-sores which would almost certainly be casus belli for a neighboring kingdom to want to invade on a flag-burning jihad. But it took me only a little time to puzzle out the interface and I produced a flag which almost any sea-faring nation would be proud to wave in its enemies' faces: <img src="http://www.neuroglyphgames.com/rpgblogs/home/neurogly/public_html/rpgblogs/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/flag-gen.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />If you need to create a kingdom quickly on-the-fly, the meta-generator can pop flesh out a kingdom fairly quickly. It gives the name of the kingdom, its ruler, prominent places, examples of laws, recent events, a few notable citizen (i.e. conspirators), its army, and what the current fashion trend is like:  Although the meta-generator is nice, I think that using the individual generators to “cherry-pick” ideas from is the best way to create a whole kingdom. The meta can come up with a stunningly intricate set of results, but it can be marred by one out of place idea. And it is a rare circumstance when a Dungeon Master finds it necessary to create a whole kingdom like this, although in some campaigns, strange gates or teleportation accidents might require it. Overall Grade: A Conclusion Hands down, the Kingdom Builder Generator Pack II is a worthy successor to the first generator pack, and offers additional world-building content which the first generator lacked. Even for already established “official” game settings, such as the Forgotten Realms or Eberron, the generators in KBGP II can still be used to enhance the play experience by adding much needed details like changes in fashion trends, random events, and standing armies for nobles and cities not given full details in the sourcebooks. And the conspirator generator is a useful tool for almost any Dungeon Master, particularly if heroes fall off the campaign plot track and end up meeting NPCs in areas not quite intended to be visited yet! With Kingdom Builder Generator Pack’s modest priced of only $3.95, this assortment of randomizers is well worth picking up to enhance almost any campaign. So until the next review… I wish you Happy Gaming! Grade Card <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Presentation: A</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">- Design: A</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">- Illustrations: NA</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Content: A</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">-Crunch: NA</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">-Fluff: A-</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Value: A</li> </ul></blockquote>

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