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Message: <blockquote data-quote="johnsemlak" data-source="post: 2010777" data-attributes="member: 7233">This is not a playtest review.ConclusionScarred Lands Campaing Setting: Ghelspad is a very entertaining read and a mine of campaign ideas, making it well worth the purchase even if you don't plan on using the setting.  The book is rules-light and makes it useable with 3.0, 3.5, or pretty much any rules system for that matter.Product SummaryThe Scarred Lands Campaign Setting: Ghelspad is a roughly 250 page hardcover which retails at $24.95.  It details the continent of Ghelspad, one of three continents in the Scarred Lands setting.  A second campaign setting book in a similar format detailing another continent, Termana, is on the way.  The inside of the front and the back covers both contain complete color maps of Ghelspad.  A two-page B&W map is also provided (neither map has a hex-grid but a scale is provided).  After a one-page introduction, the book is divided into 6 chapters: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">1. History of Ghelspad;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">2. The Gods of Ghelspad;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">3. Nations of Ghelspad;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> 4. City-States of Ghelspad;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">5. Important Locations in Ghelspad;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">6. Other Places in Ghelspad</li> </ul>The book also contains an appendix providing 8 prestige classes.  The table of contents is reasonably thorough, though there is no index.  As noted above, the book is rather rules light, with most of the cruch in the appendix with prestige classes.  The book assumes you have Relics and Rituals, Creature Collection 1 & 2 and The Divine and the Defeated, which provide a great deal of the Scarred Lands' crunch--spells, monsters, domains, magic items, more PrCs, as well as rules for using magic in the Scarred Lands.  Finally, the book does not provide a large, pull-out map.  Only the 2-page maps mentioned above are provided.  The book probably assumes you have the Scarred Lands Gazatteer: Ghelspad, which does have a large map.Chapters 3-6 thoroughly describe the locations of Ghelspad (more on that below).  Chapter 1 details Ghelspad's history, calendars, and langauges.  Chapter 2 gives brief info on Ghelspad's gods and titans (much more information on them is provided in other sources, particulary The Divine and the Defeated).Why I liked itAs I mentioned above, this product is literally a mine of ideas.  The book contains very vivid descriptions of how the gods and titans (titans in the SL are parents of the gods) warred with each other and created many of the geographic features on the continent.  For example, there is a long, narrow sea inlet created when a god swung his hug axe at a titan and sliced the land in half.  Another titan was cut in half and now forms the two sides of a canyon.  Yet another titan was hurled into the sea and bleeds into the ocean, creating the so-called 'Blood Sea', pictured on the cover.  The locations of Ghelspad are given very good detail.  17 nations, 18 city-states, and nearly 30 other locations (forests, deserts, and such) are detailed.  Most locations are given several pages of treatment, with details of the location's history, culture, people, government, etc.  Many have maps included and several have specific points of interest detailed briefly.  Also, each nation and city-states legal system and punishments are given treatment, with numerous examples (e.g. murder--death by hanging, or whatever).  The locations are detailed in a relatively consistant format.The production values and value-per-buck are very good.  Editing is top notch, the interior artwork, though black-and-white, is quite good and helps visualize many of the people and places of Ghelspad (though some of the pictures lacked captions explaining what they were, which I felt would have been useful).  The book's organization is simple and straightforward.  At about $25 for 250 pages, this book offers a lot of material.What Could Have been BetterMost of the criticisms I have are two-sided.  One the one hand they're good and other the other hand they're bad.  The main ones are as follows: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Unlike the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, this book, I suppose by design, does not act as an everything-you-need sourcebook for running a Scarred Lands campaign.  You need several other source books, especially for the crunchy bits;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The book has a severe lack of crunch, as mentioned above.  On the other hand, it makes this book quite useable in any rules system;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> In general I liked the book's organization but had a few minor quibbles.  Sometimes it was confusing whether a paricular location would be found in Chapter 3, 4, 5, or 6.  The table of contents solves most of these problems, except for the natual features described in chapter 6 (which contains very brief entries compared to the earlier chapters).  Also, for a sourcebook of this type, the lack of an index was a minor annoyance;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The book lacks a player's guide section, detailing the creation of Scarred Lands characters.  Other SL sourcebooks also lack such a section; DMs and players are forced to scavenge through multiple sources (the Player's Guide series may change this)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Similarly, the book lacks descriptions of several new races mentioned, such as the Assathi (a race of humanoid serpants) and the Charduni dwarves, an evil dark dwarven race.  A short summary of each race (new ones and standard PHB ones), including where in Ghelspad they are found, would have been very useful;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">While SLCS:G is a mine of campaign ideas, it lacks any list of suggested (specific) adventure ideas, or any sample adventures;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The lack of a large pull-out map is a real disappointment for me, that's something I would expect in a campaign setting book. </li> </ul></blockquote>

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