The Argyle Lorebook

[Crothian]

"Yara be cursed!" Flynn muttered under his breath. This Spire was supposed to have been abandoned centuries ago. He wondered if it was too late to turn back.

Torrad and Mauss seemed to wonder the same thing as well, but the decision was made for them; the Spire's doors flew open and a teeming mass of bodies burst out. Shroudborn, to be sure.

It was definitely too late to turn back…

Welcome to the Land of Argyle, where the actions of the past still affect the decisions of the present. Argyle is a campaign setting ripe with opportunity; centuries ago, Human Mage-Kings ruled the land, subjugating all other races during the Age of Domination. The Plague brought an end to this tyranny, reducing Argyle's population by more than half, and the Spires of the Mage-Kings sit empty throughout the land.

The actions of the Mage-Kings reached much farther than the Plague, though. Magic is now feared and reviled throughout the land, and those Humans who risk using arcane powers face dire consequences. Militant Elves stand ready to defend their lands. Stalwart Dwarves now carry the fight to ancient Human-created foes, while Grizzlefoot Halflings dominate the Great Plains. Throughout Argyle racial tensions run high.

The Argyle Lorebook explores a land reeling from a history of hate, struggling to shape a future rejecting the arcane. Those looking for a setting high on role-playing and low on magic will find those elements and more, including:

* Detailed cultural write-ups on all playable races, including nine compelling subraces such as Mûrkan Gnomes and Forsaken Elves.
* Extensive information on ten different locations within the Land of Argyle, from Human settlements teetering on the brink of barbarism to the warring Gnomelands, as well as dozens of adventure seeds.
* A unique pantheon with 17 new gods, many of which have ascended from mortal lives.
* Writeups covering Argyle's many guilds, each with a stake in the land's recovering civilizations.
* A new prestige class, the Shroudwalker.
* A new monstrous society, the Black Renders.
* Dozens of illustrations, including city maps, characters and events, many painted in full colour.
* Fully bookmarked and indexed, with an extensive glossary and a clickable world map.

Will your party be the one to thwart the efforts of the Ash Hand in the burgeoning Elven trade town of Niire? Will you join the White Mages in their efforts to bring magic use back from the brink of extinction or will you join the followers of Desus Tai, wreaking havoc at all turns? With The Argyle Lorebook, the possibilities are limitless!

Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

 

[Crothian]

The Land of Argyle

The Land of Argyle

In the world of PDFs there is a lot of variety. There are PDS of lots of print books and PDFs that seem to be more gaming pamphlets then books. One interesting aspect of PDFs is that it seems a lot more new companies are showing up in the market through PDFs. So, it is a good way to see new people and the ideas they have. This PDF is the first by a new company. And like few before them they show they have a lot of ideas and can produce a good campaign book.

The Land of Argyle is a campaign setting by Silver Oak Studios. The PDF is one hundred and sixty pages, well organized, good book marks, nicely laid out, and some really nice art. The writing is mostly done by Mike Huck and Brad lead with help from John Mayhew, Dan Gwarthney, Don Gallihue, Kenneth Delie, and Scott Baerst. The book also comes with what is becoming an endangered species in RPG books; an index!!

The book has a lot of good things going for it. It starts with a nice little story that shows some of the differences between races in how it all got started. It is a nice take and has some lively characters in it. It then goes on into a nice creation list and a very complete three and a half page time line. The book has the details to run the campaign that is for sure.

The races are familiar and brought to the world. There are elves and dwarves and gnomes and halfings and humans. And there sub races for gnomes dwarves, and halfings. I prefer unique races rather then sub races but these are nicely detailed and can be fun. There are also half races present here. All the races are details first. The mechanics are few and at the end placing an emphasis on the written word and not the rules. I like that approach a lot and in a game like D&D that seems to have the rules ruling the day it is a pleasant surprise to see it is not always the case. There are no unique races aside from the sub races present here.

The classes’ chapter presents something that is pretty much unseen in this day and age of d20. It has no new classes in it. There are a few new prestige classes in another section, but the Classes Chapter does the great job of showing the reader how the classes from the Players Handbook fit and are viewed in this world. If that was not enough the book also gives motivations and thoughts of the races on each class. This might be the first setting that I can honestly have a clear picture of how each class fits in and works into the setting. And then I can have each player know how the races feel on them and the reasons a race would be a certain class. The book makes things easy on the DM with these kinds of information and will make players understand the world and the roles of classes a lot better.

The Prestige Classes actually issues forth my first disappointment with the book. Though it truth it is not much of one. After reading about all the classes from the Players hand book and how they can be used I was hoping to see the prestige classes from the Dungeon Master’s Guide given the same treatment. Alas they were not. There is a single prestige class presented in here and it is called the Shroudwalker. It is a classed aimed at eradicating all undead. It seems like a fairly balanced class with a number of good abilities though some like the turn undead ability they get will be a bit weak if the character did not have it before. There is also a sample NPC of this class presented.

I am not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing that I can not summaries what the campaign setting is about easily. There is a lot here and it feels more like a world that is flowing and living. It seems many campaign settings have a twist or central theme to them. Argyle is a fantasy setting with rich history and lots of things going on. It seems to be able to support a lot of different styles but traditional fantasy will be its forte. Wizards are not well liked and the elves are very militant. Everyone does not get along and there is much possibility for adventure. As such it might be a little overwhelming for new DM’s. I like that it is complicated and not easy. It seems to a rare trait in books these days.

The meat of the book is the setting. It presents the gods and their religions. This chapter is about the gods but does not stat the gods. It has dogmas and portfolios. To put it simple it is for worshiping the gods and not fighting them. There is first the Creator, Ko. He created the Four who are referred to as Scions and then there are the Ascended, mortals who become basically gods. The chapter also gives the reader the afterlife. This is another area that other settings fail to present.

In the end Argyle is a living setting. The book is well written and interesting. There are many side bars for the DM to on such things as currency. The calendar is fully presented and there is a glossary of terms. And in the end it is a greatly detailed setting.