Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Valus
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Jannica Thales" data-source="post: 2476510" data-attributes="member: 33331"><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Valus is a d20 fantasy campaign setting that possesses a strong ability to create and maintain mood. It boasts that it is a “dark & brutal world” with a “high mortality rate”. This is very true and the writing is very well done. While Midnight would probably still take the prize for “darkest d20 world”, it does so largely on the basis of mechanics. Valus achieves the same end on the basis of prose. However, does that make it a good setting? Let’s open the book and see. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">The introduction is the best introduction in gaming. I say this not only because I enjoyed the introductory cover story, but because it gives a brief description of each chapter. If you’ve read my previous reviews, you know that this was an invaluable reference for me! Thank you, Different Worlds Publications, for making my job easier. As a caveat I should say that I made an effort to get this review out before the close of the ENnie awards, this book is up for two, best writing and best setting. Were it not for the introduction, I probably wouldn’t have been able to complete this in time (and this still may not make rpg.net before deadline). This is absolutely no reason for anyone else in the entire world to buy this book, but let’s give your pal Jan a break, eh? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Chapter One covers the world of Valus. Valus is just an island, about 600 miles long, or roughly the size of a medium American State. The rest of the world is “the mainland” and the empires there are in a long struggle for ascendancy. The history of the world and the calendar are also covered as well as languages and racial pejoratives. It’s not a very big chapter and ends at page 20. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Chatper Two is where we find most of the game mechanics. Humans start with a free “heritage level” that indicates a +1 bonus to a save, a skill that will always be treated as a class skill, a free pre-selected feat, and a favored class. This limits the human’s ability to pick up classes, but they start out with a little extra “oomph”. There are three subraces of dwarves (durven) and they are somewhat similar, the -4 penalty across the board to swim checks is a nice touch and I wish that was in the core rules. Elves (drel) are broken up into two subraces that are more distinct. Giving the Magical Aptitude feat to the Horadrel (think high elves) is a good way to establish that the elves are truly magical. The Gammhedrel are wood elves and the Paradrel are the luckless half-elves that actually age faster than humans. Half-Orcs and Halflings make a brief appearance. Gnomes are replaced with Pem. Pem are a lot like gnomes, only more magical and reclusive. There are new races: Roven (dog men) and Trulls (half Trolls). Neither of these did that much for me. I’m hard pressed to see the need for Roven when Gnolls exist and the violent-yet-lawful nature of the Trulls escapes me. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">We continue on to classes and their place within Valus. Bards are broken up into skalds, troubadours, and minstrels, each with their own slight variation on the bard class. This may not make much sense now, but when we get later into the book and we see how Valus is culturally broken up into thirds it makes far more sense. Clerics are a big deal, the Risen Gods are eternally warring and being a cleric is a big deal in Valus. Gods are both good and evil and they all grant their own special abilities. Druids gain Intimidation as a class skill and that should tell you most of what you need to know about Valusian druids right there. Fighters, Monks, Rangers, and Rogues are unchanged. Paladins – get this – are the bad guys of Valus. They worship angels, not gods, and are therefore heretics. That is, like, so goth. Very nice portrayal and a very original take on the class. Sorcerers and Wizards gain slight tweaks that distinguish the two classes better and again they’re changes I’d consider adding to my campaign if I could ever tie anyone down to a chair and force to game with me as a DM. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">There is one prestige class, the Covengaurd. Covengaurd see it as their job to defend Valus from outsiders. All outsiders. Angels, demons, devils, elementals, whatever. They’re all unwelcome to the Covenguard. This is something that will make a little more sense in upcoming chapters. There are a few new feats and HEY look at this! A picture of a guy using the Haft-Strike feat on what I presume are Roven. I couldn’t say of course because this is the first picture of Roven we see. What they’re doing next to a combat feat as opposed to where the race is introduced is anyone’s guess. No this isn’t really a big deal, but if I have a new race I’d kind of like to see what it looks like. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Chapter three beings on page 54. Religion is a very big deal in Valus and understanding the nature of the gods is vital to understanding the nature of the world. Essentially, the creator was forced to kill her first children, who fell to the planet and formed the landmasses. In his/her grief, he/she gave her dead children all her love, which meant she had none left when she created the next batch of kids. A bit of a snafu there if you ask me, but then I don’t go around creating universes. The result is that mortals which sprang from the bodies of the dead gods, have the ability to love. Immortals don’t. This may seem like a very touchy-feely Hallmark romance thing to add to a campaign setting, but when you think about what the afterlife is like you begin to think again. My SO -- who is thoughtfully watching Matrix movies at full volume while your humble scribe types this – compared departed souls to shrapnel and I think that’s an apt metaphor. The various gods and their granted powers commences which is a nice segue into the next chapter which is about magic. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Chapter four is very short and covers the consequences of the previous chapter. Clerics are a little stricter about brining people back from the dead and those they do bring back are scarred magically. The differences between summoning and calling are also touched on. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Chapter five is about Northern Valus, Hor Valu. There are two empires here which are covered as well as some major geographical features and points of historical interest. This area has a kind of a King Arthur feel to it. Except there’s no high king, everyone hates each other, and the civilization the Romans brought is forgotten. If you’re thinking this is traditional fantasy you’re thinking wrong. This is where Valus starts to shine as a campaign setting. The towns and histories really come alive and there are places like Andoric’s Steps where a noble prince committed suicide, presumably after seeing too much war and hatred. Plot hooks are interspersed here and there, but I think they’re the weakest part of the chapter. Which is not to say they’re all that weak, just that if I have to pick something I pick the hooks. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Chapter six is more celtic and barbaric. The Durves live here along with the various human clans. We are also treated to a sample town. The picture of the sign giving the costs for what different human and humanoid heads are worth pretty much sums up this chapter. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Chapter seven is southern Valus with its elves and Pellmen. The Pell are merchant princes and there is no law other than the laws of supply and demand. I love the Pell. When a merchant prince dies they have 30 days of peace while the houses scramble to form alliances and hire mercenaries, then they fight it out for 30 more days with no quarter given, then the merchant lords get together alone and decide on a new merchant prince, dissenters are executed on the spot by the other lords. Wall Street never looked so tame. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Chapter eight starts on page 144 and is DM advice. I’m pretty sure there’s a small violation of the Open Gaming License in the opening pages, but I won’t tell anyone if you won’t. The DM is suggested to make encounters a little tougher and to use a silver standard instead of a gold standard. Modifications to skills like Diplomacy are given for social rank, so even a 15th level wizard will still have a hard time convincing a king to listen to him, a nice way to enforce the importance of rank in a medieval society. Also present are three campaign outlines, each with three styles of play depending on how much your players like combat to roleplay. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">We end with an introductory adventure. I won’t spoil it. It is a good adventure and a good introduction to Valus in that I think it’s pretty likely that it’s going to end in a character death. Take points in Spot, is all I’m saying. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Conclusions: </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">So the mechanics are fine and the atmosphere of the setting is sublime, what’s not to like about Valus? Well, nothing except that I don’t think I could get anyone to play it. Parts of this book are just great. The Farthis Fight is one of many examples where the brutality of Valus comes alive and the game ideas just pop out at you as you read about a village where once a year everyone leaves and let all comers participate in a battle royale. And the image of a half-orc keeping a Pem as a pet in his russack won’t leave my mind soon. You could get a really, really good game out of Valus if you had a bunch of good roleplayers who had all read the setting, and no you can’t say that about all campaigns, though I’ve read many who claim otherwise. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Also parts of this book are just hard to read. The sidebars are in a textured grey format, which is a pain. The introductory fiction paragraphs – and this book is full of them – are well done, but don’t really break the text up. This is a full, rich world, now how am I going to get a group to play in it compared to, say, the Forgotten Realms? I think people will enjoy Valus more than the FR, but the initial investment to read up on the different cultures is high. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">And thus I don’t know how to really rate this book. 4/5 substance, 4/5 style? Am I showing no love? Well, Valus is used to that! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jannica Thales, post: 2476510, member: 33331"] [font=Courier New]Valus is a d20 fantasy campaign setting that possesses a strong ability to create and maintain mood. It boasts that it is a “dark & brutal world” with a “high mortality rate”. This is very true and the writing is very well done. While Midnight would probably still take the prize for “darkest d20 world”, it does so largely on the basis of mechanics. Valus achieves the same end on the basis of prose. However, does that make it a good setting? Let’s open the book and see. The introduction is the best introduction in gaming. I say this not only because I enjoyed the introductory cover story, but because it gives a brief description of each chapter. If you’ve read my previous reviews, you know that this was an invaluable reference for me! Thank you, Different Worlds Publications, for making my job easier. As a caveat I should say that I made an effort to get this review out before the close of the ENnie awards, this book is up for two, best writing and best setting. Were it not for the introduction, I probably wouldn’t have been able to complete this in time (and this still may not make rpg.net before deadline). This is absolutely no reason for anyone else in the entire world to buy this book, but let’s give your pal Jan a break, eh? Chapter One covers the world of Valus. Valus is just an island, about 600 miles long, or roughly the size of a medium American State. The rest of the world is “the mainland” and the empires there are in a long struggle for ascendancy. The history of the world and the calendar are also covered as well as languages and racial pejoratives. It’s not a very big chapter and ends at page 20. Chatper Two is where we find most of the game mechanics. Humans start with a free “heritage level” that indicates a +1 bonus to a save, a skill that will always be treated as a class skill, a free pre-selected feat, and a favored class. This limits the human’s ability to pick up classes, but they start out with a little extra “oomph”. There are three subraces of dwarves (durven) and they are somewhat similar, the -4 penalty across the board to swim checks is a nice touch and I wish that was in the core rules. Elves (drel) are broken up into two subraces that are more distinct. Giving the Magical Aptitude feat to the Horadrel (think high elves) is a good way to establish that the elves are truly magical. The Gammhedrel are wood elves and the Paradrel are the luckless half-elves that actually age faster than humans. Half-Orcs and Halflings make a brief appearance. Gnomes are replaced with Pem. Pem are a lot like gnomes, only more magical and reclusive. There are new races: Roven (dog men) and Trulls (half Trolls). Neither of these did that much for me. I’m hard pressed to see the need for Roven when Gnolls exist and the violent-yet-lawful nature of the Trulls escapes me. We continue on to classes and their place within Valus. Bards are broken up into skalds, troubadours, and minstrels, each with their own slight variation on the bard class. This may not make much sense now, but when we get later into the book and we see how Valus is culturally broken up into thirds it makes far more sense. Clerics are a big deal, the Risen Gods are eternally warring and being a cleric is a big deal in Valus. Gods are both good and evil and they all grant their own special abilities. Druids gain Intimidation as a class skill and that should tell you most of what you need to know about Valusian druids right there. Fighters, Monks, Rangers, and Rogues are unchanged. Paladins – get this – are the bad guys of Valus. They worship angels, not gods, and are therefore heretics. That is, like, so goth. Very nice portrayal and a very original take on the class. Sorcerers and Wizards gain slight tweaks that distinguish the two classes better and again they’re changes I’d consider adding to my campaign if I could ever tie anyone down to a chair and force to game with me as a DM. There is one prestige class, the Covengaurd. Covengaurd see it as their job to defend Valus from outsiders. All outsiders. Angels, demons, devils, elementals, whatever. They’re all unwelcome to the Covenguard. This is something that will make a little more sense in upcoming chapters. There are a few new feats and HEY look at this! A picture of a guy using the Haft-Strike feat on what I presume are Roven. I couldn’t say of course because this is the first picture of Roven we see. What they’re doing next to a combat feat as opposed to where the race is introduced is anyone’s guess. No this isn’t really a big deal, but if I have a new race I’d kind of like to see what it looks like. Chapter three beings on page 54. Religion is a very big deal in Valus and understanding the nature of the gods is vital to understanding the nature of the world. Essentially, the creator was forced to kill her first children, who fell to the planet and formed the landmasses. In his/her grief, he/she gave her dead children all her love, which meant she had none left when she created the next batch of kids. A bit of a snafu there if you ask me, but then I don’t go around creating universes. The result is that mortals which sprang from the bodies of the dead gods, have the ability to love. Immortals don’t. This may seem like a very touchy-feely Hallmark romance thing to add to a campaign setting, but when you think about what the afterlife is like you begin to think again. My SO -- who is thoughtfully watching Matrix movies at full volume while your humble scribe types this – compared departed souls to shrapnel and I think that’s an apt metaphor. The various gods and their granted powers commences which is a nice segue into the next chapter which is about magic. Chapter four is very short and covers the consequences of the previous chapter. Clerics are a little stricter about brining people back from the dead and those they do bring back are scarred magically. The differences between summoning and calling are also touched on. Chapter five is about Northern Valus, Hor Valu. There are two empires here which are covered as well as some major geographical features and points of historical interest. This area has a kind of a King Arthur feel to it. Except there’s no high king, everyone hates each other, and the civilization the Romans brought is forgotten. If you’re thinking this is traditional fantasy you’re thinking wrong. This is where Valus starts to shine as a campaign setting. The towns and histories really come alive and there are places like Andoric’s Steps where a noble prince committed suicide, presumably after seeing too much war and hatred. Plot hooks are interspersed here and there, but I think they’re the weakest part of the chapter. Which is not to say they’re all that weak, just that if I have to pick something I pick the hooks. Chapter six is more celtic and barbaric. The Durves live here along with the various human clans. We are also treated to a sample town. The picture of the sign giving the costs for what different human and humanoid heads are worth pretty much sums up this chapter. Chapter seven is southern Valus with its elves and Pellmen. The Pell are merchant princes and there is no law other than the laws of supply and demand. I love the Pell. When a merchant prince dies they have 30 days of peace while the houses scramble to form alliances and hire mercenaries, then they fight it out for 30 more days with no quarter given, then the merchant lords get together alone and decide on a new merchant prince, dissenters are executed on the spot by the other lords. Wall Street never looked so tame. Chapter eight starts on page 144 and is DM advice. I’m pretty sure there’s a small violation of the Open Gaming License in the opening pages, but I won’t tell anyone if you won’t. The DM is suggested to make encounters a little tougher and to use a silver standard instead of a gold standard. Modifications to skills like Diplomacy are given for social rank, so even a 15th level wizard will still have a hard time convincing a king to listen to him, a nice way to enforce the importance of rank in a medieval society. Also present are three campaign outlines, each with three styles of play depending on how much your players like combat to roleplay. We end with an introductory adventure. I won’t spoil it. It is a good adventure and a good introduction to Valus in that I think it’s pretty likely that it’s going to end in a character death. Take points in Spot, is all I’m saying. Conclusions: So the mechanics are fine and the atmosphere of the setting is sublime, what’s not to like about Valus? Well, nothing except that I don’t think I could get anyone to play it. Parts of this book are just great. The Farthis Fight is one of many examples where the brutality of Valus comes alive and the game ideas just pop out at you as you read about a village where once a year everyone leaves and let all comers participate in a battle royale. And the image of a half-orc keeping a Pem as a pet in his russack won’t leave my mind soon. You could get a really, really good game out of Valus if you had a bunch of good roleplayers who had all read the setting, and no you can’t say that about all campaigns, though I’ve read many who claim otherwise. Also parts of this book are just hard to read. The sidebars are in a textured grey format, which is a pain. The introductory fiction paragraphs – and this book is full of them – are well done, but don’t really break the text up. This is a full, rich world, now how am I going to get a group to play in it compared to, say, the Forgotten Realms? I think people will enjoy Valus more than the FR, but the initial investment to read up on the different cultures is high. And thus I don’t know how to really rate this book. 4/5 substance, 4/5 style? Am I showing no love? Well, Valus is used to that! ;)[/font] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Valus
Top