Nyambe: African Adventures (OGL)

5.00/5 (based on 4 ratings)
ATG3700E

Add PDF $19.20

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In the Land of the Overpower,
The Jaws of the Lion
Are the Only Reward
For the Unwary.

Nyambe is a vast land of exotic creatures and wide expanses, where ancestral orishas cry for brave warriors to carve out the hearts of foul mchawi wizards, and where dragon-blooded sei sorcerers once joined the fierce Amazons of Nibomay in the bloody Rebelling Time to win their freedom. This campaign setting for the OGL System brings together high fantasy and African myth, legend, and history.

    Nyambe: African Adventures includes:
  • Twelve new human cultures and six variant non-human races, like the brown-skinned, tailed Wakyambi elves who meddle in the affairs of men from the depths of the blda Rainforest
  • New PC class variants and prestige classes change druids into n'anga shamen who worship the natural orisha spirits and are as comfortable in the skin of a panther as in humanoid form
  • New skills and feats like Ancestral Blessing, Drum Dancer, Elephant Warrior, and Fire Blood are the heritage of every Nyamban, as well as new weapons, armor, and equipment designed for a climate where the heat of the vast savannah is more dangerous than an enemy's spear
  • Mortals who honor the spirit orisha are granted new spells and domains such as Darkness, Exile, Fertility, Lightning, and Plague
  • Mad mchawi wizards contemplate the contents of mojuba bags to prepare their ominous spells, and new magic items like zombi powder turn fallen warriors into true zombis that keep a hideous memory of their former lives; ritual masks let the wearer become an orisha, and vodou nkisi statues hurl powerful curses at those who dare to use them
  • Creatures never before seen by the men of the tamed north prowl these lands... and ravenous beasts of the jungle and desert are only the beginning of the danger that awaits those who walk the continent of Nyambe!

Requires use of a Dungeons & Dragons Core Book.

Written by Chris Dolunt.

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5.00/5 (based on 4 ratings)

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Looks Great

5/5

I just got this book today, and browsed through it. It has descriptions of african-feeling human and demihuman races and cultures, modified base classes, theme-fitting prestige classes, spells, feats, skills, equipment, magic items, monsters and a short description of a continent. If you plan an african campaign, this book has something for everyone - I guess that current Serpents Skull AP could be a good target for this book. It is written for 3.0, though, so it needs some work to fit it to the PF rules. Still, highly recommended, and at the current sales price of 10 $, doubly so!


5/5

Buy this.



Anybody play this? Just wondering if it was any good. It certainly sounds interesting.

Sovereign Court

Wow, sounds cool.

Silver Crusade

It's certainly got my attention.

I'm a bit confused about the pricing though(hardcover is 10 bucks, .pdf is 19?!)


Books are d20 clearance and so discounted.

EDIT: Two short reviews on Amazon.

Silver Crusade

Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

Books are d20 clearance and so discounted.

Damn it, you just had to send me on another clearance bender.

It always starts with just one product....

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

I just bought it a couple weeks ago: I had bought an adventure for the setting over the summer, and liked it, and I know that, for a couple of years, Nyame was part of the "Arcanis" campaign world, the same as Green Ronin's city of Freeport.

All the races and classes have different names (instead of playing a dwarf rogue, you'd play a utuchekulu nanala) carrying different stereotypes. Most people assume the spirit world is part of life, and welcome the n'angas and their connection to their orisha patrons, but the sei are distrusted and even hunted for their godless and destructive powers.

The book is laid out similarly to the World of Darkness rulesbooks, with --I think-- some of the same artists.

The book includes a new arcane magic system, a new pantheon, new poisons and diseases, new magic items, new monsters, and a description of a dozen new nations with plot hooks.

More details as I go through the work.


Mikaze wrote:
Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

Books are d20 clearance and so discounted.

Damn it, you just had to send me on another clearance bender.

It always starts with just one product....

You're welcome! Just don't post great reviews of the products once you come back up, or I might weaken.

Scarab Sages

Man at $10 for a hard cover I'm having a hard time resisting this one. The fact that it's linked to Arcanis makes it tougher. Arcanis is a really cool setting.

Sovereign Court

Where were you people six years ago when this came out!? This was one of the best d20 alternate settings out there, and Africa is far too under-represented in fantasy gaming. It's some good stuff.

Scarab Sages

cappadocius wrote:
Where were you people six years ago when this came out!? This was one of the best d20 alternate settings out there, and Africa is far too under-represented in fantasy gaming. It's some good stuff.

I don't know. I've tried to keep my eyes and ears open about good D20 product, some I've only discovered late in the game, but some I've had to put off buying for budget reasons. Nyambe is one I've always been intrigued about, but wasn't sure if I'd get a chance to use in a game. That often restricts my gaming purchases.

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

cappadocius wrote:
Where were you people six years ago when this came out!? This was one of the best d20 alternate settings out there, and Africa is far too under-represented in fantasy gaming. It's some good stuff.

Unfortunately here in Australia a lot of FLGS don't carry 3PP, you have to order then in. In order to do that however, you have to know about them.

There was a really good article in an issue of Dragon (like 10 years ago - 2e) that described an African setting. It was one of my favourite articles and I used some of the weapons on a Chultan Character I made.

This caught my eye when I saw it opn clearance and it (and the other two products) was too good to pass up.

Just one question: Is it 3e or 3.5? At six years I am guessing 3e (not that it matters, mine shipped last week so I am looking forward to them next week).

EDIT: OK how waaaaay off was I! This is the Issue of Dragon I was talking about, Issue 189 from January 1993.
Makes me feel old now.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

My roommate has this book, and as I've read it from cover to cover, I can confidently say it's pretty much made of excellence.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Maps Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
cappadocius wrote:
Just one question: Is it 3e or 3.5?

It's 3e, but the system update is not terribly relevant to the setting. Nyambe is a "total conversion", with new classes, equipment, and so forth.

darth_borehd wrote:
Anybody play this? Just wondering if it was any good. It certainly sounds interesting.

I did, and it was. I ran a short campaign in the setting when it first came out. It went quite well, and had several "quotable" moments that lasted down the years.

Liberty's Edge Contributor

I've had the book for a few years now and I think its really cool and I've used a number of concepts from it. That said, its got some rules in it that while they work great in the context of the setting do not work well outside a Nyambe campaign. The most hazardous being the Defense rule (as most of Nyambe is too hot/primitive) to wear armor. Also I thought some of the PC races could have been stronger as they're essentially Africanized versions of standard races.
I might add that I noticed Erik used some of the critters in his last AP mod. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that they look pretty balanced and I've also had fun with a few of them (though admittedly, I haven't tried them all out)

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

It is a very interesting book. I have read it, but not really had a chance to use it yet. I am waiting till a game a run ends up there. I tend to run more of a sand box type world. In that I dump the characters in the world, drop story hooks all over and then let them go where they want. So far they have not went to a place where I could use this, mores the pity.


Have had this book for some years now, its very good and very sad that it only got one or two supp. In Short African Adv. does for Africa what OA does for Asia. However their are some clear issues I've had with it.

1. Defense rule works great in setting, but a normal GM will say no to this out right. For me as long as the class is not using Armor, I'm okay with it, and if the player wants armor he had better have the feats for it. Still other GM's I know have used extra feats instead of the defense boost.

2. Races, instead of a new kind of Dwarf with a African name, I'd would have wanted something from African lore as a race. On the other hand they do give many human races in the book that I like.

3. The class flavor is fantastic, but really the classes are just slight variants to the core ones, A fighter by any other name. However the devil really is in the details one has to look closely. Still the classes in this game feel like kits.

With all that where does this product shine? Oh thats easy setting setting setting! Put simple you can run a whole game in Africa, have it exist as part of your world maybe even add lost world elements to it. but on its own setting and feel this book is fantastic. The African take on magic items and slots was far more interisting then most magic item backgrounds, and cosmology of spirts was really good.

With the above exception about Defense rules I'd say it fit nicely into most worlds, including Pathfinder, and I think their was online support for it, but I'm not sure if the sight is down or not.

In any case its an old standby in my libary, I've even used some of the monsters in a few Conan games, again it lends intself to other settings. AT 10 its a no brainer, heck I'm thinking of backing up my copy.

TTFN DRe

The Exchange

I intend to mine this for ideas. A playing in my Eberron campaign is playing an escaped human slave from Xendrik, and his concept was to have his character be as close to a voodoo priest type as possible. So far we've been using sorcerer, but hopefully this book will have something that fits the flavor better.


Its a fun book. I recommend it highly


Quick question/idea bounce:
Does anyone feel the need to change the dodge bonus by BAB that Sanguar gives?
Also, anything to improve the range of the Magic Eater's abilities? Most are basically touch attacks, and I want to make use of it in a way to deal with abusive mages in the area.


Nyambe is a great product, I got this last year, I like it a lot.

$4.99 is a STEAL!

I'll be using it for lots of Mwangi interaction in my Golarion.

Dark Archive

Xaaon of Korvosa wrote:

Nyambe is a great product, I got this last year, I like it a lot.

$4.99 is a STEAL!

I'll be using it for lots of Mwangi interaction in my Golarion.

Yeah I have all 3 products from Atlas for Nyambe and they are great. I always liked the African type setting for a fantasy game and had used some of the dark continent stuff from the older dragon magazines when I added it to Greyhawk.


This setting is worth the money simply for the fluff.

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