What are the opinions on Ptolus?

[Ravensblood]

I'd like to know what the opinions out there are on Ptolus and if you think it is worth the hefty pricetag for the book/pdf's? If your already using Ptolus info in your games please describe how the games are going?

 

[Odhanan]

I just finished a game that was set in my homebrew setting which incorporated some Ptolus game material quite some time before it was to become "the Big Book".

You can read about the End Game of this campaign on this thread (pictures included).

So, you are wondering, "is the actual product worth the pricetag?"

My opinion: yes, it is. Check out the Ptolus Official Website and more particularly its Frequently Asked Questions to know more about the Ptolus package. There, you can find that the Ptolus package includes:

1. A 672-page hardcover, full-color book that includes:

• A textured, embossed cover by Chesley-Award-winning artist Todd Lockwood.
  Three bound-in fabric bookmarks and four perforated cardstock bookmarks to facilitate use in play.
• An entire city described in loving detail, including descriptions of the dungeons beneath the city and within and atop the Spire.
• Extensive advice about running an urban fantasy campaign.
• More than enough adventure material to run an entire campaign.
• More than 50 pages of maps by cartographer Ed Bourelle.
• More than 350 illustrations by artists like Jason Engle, The Forge Studios (Maciej Zagórski and Pawel Dobosz), Michael Komarck, Eric Lofgren, Howard Lyon, and Michael Phillippi.

2. A double sided, full-color poster map of the city and the Spire by Ed Bourelle.

3. A package of 16 black-and-white and 8 full-color loose sheets to be used as player aids, DM aids, and adventure handouts.

4. A CD-ROM inserted in a glued-in envelope at the back of the book along with the poster and handouts. The CD includes the following:

• Complete PDF editions of both The Banewarrens and Chaositech, two Ptolus-based Malhavoc Press products.
• A PDF edition of the entirely new Ptolus adventure, The Night of Dissolution.
• A 32-page Player's Guide to Ptolus, designed to be used by players in the setting rather than the DM, and written from their perspective.
• A detailed conversion guide for fans of Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved.
• Overall, an additional 400 or more pages of adventure and source material.
• Still more surprises!

Plus, those who preorder the book from our White Wolf online catalog page enjoy extra benefits, including the following:

• Each preordered Ptolus comes signed and numbered.
• Five copies of the print version of the 32-page Player's Guide to Ptolus, which allows each player to have his own.
• A print edition of the 96-page adventure, The Night of Dissolution.
• Each person who preorders gains access to the special "Delver's Guild" website, which will be updated each week starting in September 2005 with additional, exclusive Ptolus content (more characters, more locations, DMing advice, and so on) created by Monte.

So. Is it worth the money? Yes. It is, in my opinion.

 

[Stormborn]

Be prepared for some extremes of emotion, some people are zealous in their support of all things Monte Cook others (largely in reaction I think, but also with some legitimate concerns) are just as negative. Given that this is ENworld, hopefully it wont come to anything serious.

Having said that, I don't consider myself a rabid Malhavok fan, but I did preorder the book and am really enjoying the previews I have been getting through the pdfs (free to those who preordered) and the Player's Guide. I have also been following the Ptolus material off an on sinceI first started playing 3rd Ed. This is a setting that makes me actually want to run a game in the setting. I love Eberron and had fun playing in it, but when it came to running a game I wasn't that interested. Other settings are things I like to read about, Iron Kingdoms for example, but am not that interested in actually playing it. For me this book is equal parts game accesory, entertianment, proffesional reserach and collectible. Since I don't have it yet I can't say 100% one way or the other, but I doubt I will be disappointed.

For the average gamer I would recomend picking up the player's guide, reading the free stuff on monte's site, and then deciding. However, if you never plan on running a game (not just playing but running) set in Ptolus I doubt you will find it worth the money.

 

[Crothian]

I think it looks neat. I might eventually get it, but I should have gotten in on the coolk preorder. A good friend though is getting so I'll have a chance to look through it and see if it is something I really want.

 

[Odhanan]

For the average gamer I would recomend picking up the player's guide, reading the free stuff on monte's site, and then deciding.

That's very good advice.
The Free Player's Guide to Ptolus or "PT1" is availabe here in PDF format from DriveThruRPG.

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

I haven't yet begun to integrate Ptolus, per se, but I spent $120 months ago without flinching. On a budget like ours, it's tought to justify a $120 setting book. Luckily, with this one, it's easy: This is Monte Cook's Homebrew, the one in which 3rd edition was written. Urban adventure, dungeon crawls galore, intrigue, at least one supermodule, at least one new PC race, special preorder exclusives, all this and it's deluxe from the get-go, not like AU, which required a second go. This purchase was a no-brainer for me. Even if I weren't a Malhavoc fanboy, after reading Banewarrens, I would have to have gotten this book. (BTW, if you haven't read The Banewarrens, don't bother buying it seperately - it's free on the supplemental CD that comes with Ptolus, along with Chaositech, and what sounds to be a grip of other cool stuff.)

 

[A'koss]

Typically, I rarely have an ambivalent opinion when it comes to Monte's (and by extension Malhavoc's) work. Either I love it (Planescape, Iron Heroes [he may not have written it, but he was the "creative director" behind it], Arcana Unearthed [the rules, not his love for furries ], Banewarrens, Beyond Countless Doorways, A Paladin in Hell...) or I really, really don't (Diamond Throne, Chaostech).

Ptolus however is his first "big" release that puts me square into the ambivalent camp. Here you have (by all accounts) a highly ambitious, highly organized and highly detailed D&D city with loads of extras... crippled in my eyes by the fact that it is, after all the hype, just another generic fantasy city.

I've been gaming since 1980 and I gotta tell say, I already have more generic city material than I'll ever use. If this book was released in the early days of 3e, I'd have been more tempted (even if just for all the statted out NPCs). But these are the sunset years for 3e and there's just no hook in it for me. If it was really original (a la Sigil) with loads of unique flavor and concept he mighta' got me, but not for this.

Nothin' worse than seeing a great product on the market I have absolutely no use for...

 

[I'm A Banana]

From what I've seen it's really good, and a lot of effort has been made to ensure that it's worth the hefty price tag.

However, you have to want the anchor -- the campaign setting. I'm not interested in it, so it's really not worth the price for me. If you like Monte, or you like the sounds of the setting, it seems like it's definately worth the price, though.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I'm a fan of Monte's work, but I don't buy everything Malhavoc produces - Arcana Unearthed being a good example. But I've found that Monte's stuff generally clicks with me. I was a tad ambivalent about Ptolus when I first began hearing about it - I have a lot of city and town supplements for a number of games - but I was quickly converted when more details came out. That's why I pre-ordered it soon after pre-orders were available. The more time has passed, the more I like what I'm seeing. The sheer volume of material that comes with the book, as well as the material available on the Ptolus Delver's Guide website, makes this product pretty much a nonesuch, and worth buying just for that reason alone (in my opinion, of course).

 

[BryonD]

Monte Cook + been in the works as a home setting for years + labor of love = it is going to be good