Mesmo a intriga palaciana não sendo o forte de sistemas como o Pathfinder RPG, o livro é competente em demonstrar aos jogadores diversas formas de se lidar com ela e incluir elementos dela no histórico de seus personagens. O livro está cheio de idéias interessante, mas boa parte dele é só isso, idéias. Talvez por ter sido lançado no pior periodo do limbo entre o D&D 3.5E, e o Pathfinder RPG ele tenha uma aproximação meio irresponsável em relação a parte mecânica (introduzindo muita coisa desbalanceada para baixo) e pouco pode ser diretamente aproveitado, mas certamente o livro se mantem com uma das melhores fontes de informação sobre Taldor, mesmo que o reino mereça um livro (desta vez voltado para o mestre) quando for conveniente.

There are lots of interesting points about Taldor in this book that detail the country for those that want more details. That's good, but it goes beyond that to explain where there are likely adventures, what kind of political maneuvering is going on, and how Taldans see the world around them.

Reading this made me want to run a campaign in Taldor, and previously I viewed Taldor as that "past its prime" country. Its still, well, fading, but there is lots of life left in the place as an adventuring region.

If you like "Sword and Castle" style fantasy, this is actually a really good area to run that kind of campaign.

I had high hopes for this one. Taldor is one of my favourite region write-ups in the Gazetteer, and the artwork looked superb.

On delivery, yes the interior artwork continued to look superb, and strikes me as very much invoking the atmosphere of the grandiose "King's Quest" PC adventure games which I adored in the 90s (tangent: these games have been re-released by AGD Interactive for free). Taldor is King's Quest all over, and to see it brought to D&D tables is something I'm very, very enthusiastic about.

Sadly, though, when you look beyond the illustrations of the Taldor Companion, the writing falls flat. I can't really pin it down but simply didn't find a single city or area write up that I found inspiring. So there's this amazing fey-haunted forest sitting right in the middle of the country, a monastery in the mountains to the east which tries to blend Kelesh and Tuan martial arts, etc etc ... all ideas very well conceived. But when you look at the write-up, you're let down. Or at least, that's what I felt.

So from a DM's perspective, I found it really flat - nothing to edge me into writing adventures for the region. Given that so far this is the only write-up of Taldor we have that's disappointing. I'm not oblivious either to the fact that the guide needs to be player-friendly and spoiler-free. But I'm not looking for outright hooks, I'm looking for inherently inspiring locale write-ups.

From a player's perspective I found the regional traits so-so. I liked the idea behind most of them (very nice character background ideas all over), but the mechanical execution didn't impress me as most of them seemed to be copy-pasted from the freely available Web Enhancement on generic Traits in Pathfinder.

All in all, it's a glossy and beautifully illustrated book (some of the best artwork I've seen in Paizo products, and that's saying a lot as they are amazing when it comes to art), but the writing is sub-par.

This smallish supplement is an excellent guide to Taldor. The descriptions of the country are vivid and bring to life the images of an old and once glorious empire whose time has passed. I especially liked the old canal system and the mercenary pirates out to get the Qadiran ships.

This is a excellent resource for players who want ideas on character background or for DMs for adventure ideas.

I am really loving this product. Sure, there are knights and chivalry, but there is clearly a Byzantine influence in the design. The artwork is evocative and I love the maps, Oppara especially. I am seriously considering starting a new campaign in this region.