The Parched Tome

[Messageboard Golem]

Shihab is a tiny desert-country defined more by it's brutal climate and matching brutal people, than by its many political borders. The Shihabis are human nomads, dominated not by their Sultan, but by a powerful God of Strictest Laws. Amjad, also known as The Glorious & Terrible Judge, has created the most comprehensive legal system ever known, chiseled into giant walls of marble for all to see. His dogma covers all aspects of life, with laws concerning every aspect of personal, civil, criminal, mercantile, religious and sorcerous activity. Those who aren't clerics of Amjad are most likely warriors and paladins dedicated to him.


Woe to the players accustomed to western society that find themselves in the Desert of Shihab. Gone are the clean cities where races and religions freely mingle, where women can enjoy the freedom of any man. The Shihabi have no tolerance for foreign religions, magic, or non-human races. They have strict laws concerning every way a person can live and work, all provided by a complex and calculated mandatory religion enforced by mobs of clerics and the faithful. Slavery is commonplace, and women who forget their place are flogged nearly to death. The only foreigners found here are the border merchants that trade for the few valuables the Shihabi produce or are slaves who work 'til dead in the salt pits. Civilization is a cluster of tents around an oasis or mud-brick buildings by a river, populated by fanatics and thieves made more clever by persistent laws. Secret wizards summon dark d'jinn and worse things to do their bidding, while giant vultures glide across the wasteland on greasy wings, feeding on the carnage left by the endless holy-wars and invasions.

The Parched Tome provides a cultural alternative to the usual Egypt-style desert while creating a challenging environment for players accustomed to honest merchants and comfy inns between dragon fights.


The Parched Tome contains:

The People, Laws & Religious Sects of the Shihab

Cultural Class Variations

18 New Feats

New Weapons & Weapon Qualities

Desert Foods, Musical Instruments, Clothing, Equipment

Alternate Currency

Common Jobs & Wages

57 New Spells

20+ New Magic Items

5 New Monsters

Printer Friendly Version & Desert Map

Handy Bookmarks

 

[Crothian]

Parched Tome

It is nice to see a whole culture in a single product. A book about the people, their lands, their beliefs, and the way they live. Everything in the book revolves around the one single concept and reinforces it with good writing, details, and rules. Parched Tome is such a book. It depicts the culture of desert dwellers and really does bring them to life.

Parched Tome is a pdf by Madkaiser Games. It is written by A A Beiler. The pdf is only thirty nine pages in length and comes in a file a little over one meg. The layout is done in three columns which makes it a little hard to read on the screen, but easy to read once it is printed out. The pdf is black and white with no borders making it easy to print with out eating up a lot of ink. The pdf has no bookmarks though. There are lots of spells, feats, alternate classes, etc that bookmarks would make easier to find. However, it does have a fairly complete table of contents.

Parched Tome starts with a description of the people and their lands. The Shihabis (the name of the people presented here) are desert dwellers. They are all human and have a real problem with non humans and foreigners. Their laws and punishments can be brutal and they are not very politically correct (not that they should be). Women are seen in this culture as little more then property, men are the warriors and leaders, and slavery of foreigners and non humans is common. They are a very religious and fanatical people. They do not get along with outsiders and even have trouble getting along with themselves. They are raiders and thieves at times, but do have a sense of honor. The book does a good job of describing them and making them very playable.

The second chapter gets into their religions. They are fanatical. I know I stated that before, but with these people it bares repeating. There are gods described here with different sects and even some alternate core classes to fit what the gods need. There are variants of the Paladin, Ranger, Cleric, Rogue, and Wizard and Sorcerer. Each variant has some small changes that really allow the new version of the class to get some great feel of this setting and its people. The author did a good job with minor changes that have big effects.

The third chapter gets into the feats. The feats are very well oriented to the culture. There are some like Fanatical Belief that fit very well into the culture. It offers a bonus verse divine spells from opposing gods. There are some powerful combat feats like Zealous Charge which is an improved version of Spirited Charge. It does have quite a few requirements though, but can make someone charging on horseback with a lance very deadly. Over all I like the feats. They do not seem out of place or particularly weak or too powerful.

The rest of the book covers other areas that offer more detail and usefulness to using these peoples. There is a chapter on their weapons and equipment. I really like that they have a currency system here. It describes new clothes and musical instruments as well as costs for different types of fruits, meats, and vegetables. There is even a listing of common jobs and wages. I like that level of detail of thought that went into this pdf.

There are plenty of new spells from the lowly orison Dancing Bandages to the all powerful Bind Greater Outsider. Many of the spells are very desert oriented like carpet of daggers which conjures daggers to stick up out of the sand like caltrops. There are almost five dozen new spells listed here. Many have a great feel for the desert community and culture of the people.

Over all I found this a well detailed product, but a little on the small side. I really wanted to read more and I hope that they expand upon this book at some point. There is a lot of information packed in here though. This is a very solid product that very well describes a new culture that can be easily set into almost any world.