Midgard Campaign Setting (PFRPG/AGE)

4.80/5 (based on 12 ratings)
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The World is Ready. Are You?

Deep in an ancient forest, a trembling young woman enters the clearing where a ramshackle hut crouches on birds’ legs.
Far below the earth, a caravan of kobold merchants passes through a stone archway carved with the faces of leering ghouls.
High atop a northern mountain, a dwarf grips his battle-axe and gazes over the rim of the world toward whatever fate the gods have in store for him.
This is Midgard, and its gates are now open.

The Midgard Campaign Setting brings to life a dark world of deep magic, with seven regions flavored by the folklore of Central and Eastern Europe plus a heady dose of weird fantasy. Lead designers Wolfgang Baur, Jeff Grubb, and Brandon Hodge led the Open Design community in a two-year project to build a sprawling setting supported by adventures and sourcebooks compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Dungeons & Dragons, AGE System, and more.

Midgard is ley line magic and warped alchemical experiments; the Western Waste’s giant, shambling horrors and magic-blasted landscapes; diabolical gnomes and the schemes of immortal Baba Yaga; wild, wind-riding elves and swashbuckling minotaur corsairs; the Mharoti Empire’s lethal assassins and exotic splendors; and the dragon-haunted crags of the icy Northlands.

The Midgard Campaign Setting 296-page book includes:

  • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and AGE System rules for gearforged, kobold, and minotaur PCs
  • 26 new backgrounds, 3 new schools of magic, and new specialties for AGE System
  • New clerical domains including clockwork, moon, hunger, and beer
  • More than 50 kingdom write-ups, with new feats and traits for each region of Midgard
  • New spells, magical items, and incantations
  • New gear and weapons unique to the setting
  • Ley line magic and the secrets of the shadow roads!
From the Northern fjords to the hidden tombs of the gnolls, from the raven-headed reavers to the ruins of the great mage-kingdoms: all of Midgard is yours!

"A wonderfully rich and beautiful sourcebook chronicling the world of Midgard. Think of how many game masters have fancied their campaign worlds awesome enough to publish in the book. So few actually have the writing and publishing chops to accomplish this, and to do so with such style is pretty much unheard of." —WIRED GeekDad Holiday Gift Guide 2012
"What I look for in a setting book, particularly a fantasy setting book, is something that inspires me to run a game there—a book that draws me into the world, presents setting material in a way that’s both useful and entertaining, and looks like it will shows its best qualities at the table. The Midgard Campaign Setting is all of those things, in spades, with extra magic gravy on top. This is a superb book that I can recommend without qualification to any GM who likes well-realized, gazetteer-style fantasy settings." —Martin Ralya, Gnome Stew
"If you’re looking for a campaign setting that is familiar with a twist, and a book that is the spiritual successor to the 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting book, the Midgard Campaign Setting is for you. ...There is stuff here you can steal for your own setting, and it’s 'generic' but different. This goes double if you loved the 3e Forgotten Realms campaign or Mystara." —Critical Hits

Lead Designers: Wolfgang Baur, Jeff Grubb, and Brandon Hodge
Cartographers: Jonathan Roberts, official cartographer of George R.R. Martin's Westeros, with Lucas Haley and Sean Macdonald
Artists: Aaron Miller, Blanca Martinez de Rituerto, Christophe Swal, Hugo Solis, Jason Rainville, Rick Hershey, Marc Radle, Malcolm McClinton, Pat Loboyko, Steve Wood, and Darren Calvert
Editor: Michele Carter

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An RPG Resource Review

5/5

The foreword explains the origins of Midgard as Wolfgang Baur's own home game setting that he's been building since he was 14, and how it is amazing even to him to see the piles of scribbled notes and sketched maps that he ran games from turned into a full-colour proper book! Like many gamers I've long enjoyed creating my own worlds to adventure in, but few of us have the talent, perseverence and opportunity to share them with anyone other than their gaming group. This one is replete with a depth that comes of some 25 years of dreaming, writing and playing, jam-packed with lots going on never mind what adventurers might be doing yet plenty of opportunities for them to get involved or carve their own path. Just what you want in a campaign setting!

Chapter 1: Welcome to Midgard gives a high-level overview of the world. It's a place with a rich history of heroes that has fallen on dark times, a place waiting for new heroes to arise. For anyone who might think that this sounds like many other campaign worlds, seven differences between Midgard and 'standard' fantasy settings are laid out. For a start it is flat. In a quasi-mediaeval world, you might expect plenty of people to think that their world is flat, but this one really is flat. With edges. There are ley lines, utilised by the elves. Dragons are linked to the elements, and enjoy ruling whatever they can get their claws on, as well as the traditional dragon pursuit of amassing a good hoard. There are novel races, each with their own history and place in the world, as well as the standard fantasy human, elf, dwarf and so on. Personal prestige is important. The deities meddle with what goes on in mortal life. And it's not a static place. Boundaries between kingdoms change. Dynasties rise and fall. The party may have a chance to influence - even instigate - such change, but happen it will whatever they do.

The epic sweep of Midgard's creation (or at least, what is known and surmised about it) is then explained. Naturally all deities claim to have made it, but it's likely that they are lying. The creation myth told by the Northlanders is probably closer to the truth, but who knows? Races came and went, kingdoms rose and fell, a succession through giants and then elves until now when, although the other races are still around, humans take a more prominent role. Naturally the succession has rarely be peaceful with rebellions and wars... and if battlefield strife was not bad enough, the wizards cut loose too and waged war with arcane powers, leading to great swathes of devastation. And then the dragons and the vampires emerged to stake their claims... Ending with events of the last hundred years, the chapter finishes with a discussion of time, planets and dates. Flat or not, Midgard has a sun that rises in the east and sets in the west, not that anyone knows just what happens to it when it is not in view. There are moons and planets around as well. Naturally there are quite a few festivals and holidays to celebrate.

Next is Chapter 2: Heroes of Midgard. This provides details about the major races and assorted minor ones to be found in Midgard. It includes fascinating snippets and a wide range of variation within races, depending on where they hail from - things that create a diverse society and plenty of options for those seeking to create characters truly embedded in the lands from which they come. Humans, dragonkin, dwarves, elves, the gearforged, kobolds, and minotaurs make up the major races, and whilst some are well known, those that are not are described in sufficient detail to empower players who wish to experiment with a novel race for their character. There are seven minor races as well, ones who - as well as being less familiar as player-character races - are only found in specific parts of the world. There's a note on languages, and then it's on to a collection of Midgard-specific feats and traits. No matter where your character comes from, there is a range of traits that he can choose between, all providing distinctive regional and racial flavour.

The book goes on to describe the seven major regions of Midgard, geographically and culturally distinctive, with each getting its own chapter. In the middle of the world is Crossroads, then there are the Rothenian Plain, the Dragon Empire, the Seven Cities, the Wasted West, the Domains of the Princes, and the Northlands. Each has a wealth of description and some detailed maps to help you get a feel for the lay of the land. Crossroads can be a bit of a melting-pot of cultures, and at its heart is the Free City of Zobeck, which already has a sourcebook and an adventure collection of its own. Here there are brief notes and its coat of arms (the blazon is not quite right, the shield is not quartered but divided per pale - the full blazon is per pale gules and or, a gearwheel counterchanged if you really want to know!), plenty for a brief visit although if your game is going to spend much time there, get a copy of the Zobeck Gazetteer. Of particular note are references to magic unique to Zobeck, the Clockwork School and the School of Illumination Magic. The discussion moves on to trade, with loads of detail about trading companies, trade routes and so on, then to mercenary companies and many other locations that are to be found in the Crossroads area. The sheer wealth of detailed information packed in here is quite amazing... it spawns adventure ideas, never mind being useful if you already have reason to tread these lands. Numerous kingdoms, organisations, individuals and locations are all here...

And so it continues through chapter after chapter until all seven regions are described. As you read, the roots of Midgard begin to show: Middle European folk tales and legends, often the darker nightmare-inspiring end of things. But there is much more. A cluster of halflings around the great World Tree of Domovogrod, nomads roaming vast plains with a 'city on wheels' that travels around, as nomadic as the people it serves. There are spreading forests and towering mountains, strange customs and stranger titles... never mind the beings bearing them. Every region has distinctive spells, equipment and more. Throughout, there are suggestions for adventure, rooted in the people and places you are reading about at the time. The richness of this setting is matched by how integrated it is: sometimes you read of a campaign world where it seems a human world with other races tacked on because a fantasy world ought to have them: here they belong, as integral a part of the setting as any other creature.

After the regional chapters, there is a chapter detailing the pantheon of Midgard. It takes things much further than the usual list of deities and the domains over which they have influence, though. These gods are properly mysterious, they and their ways cannot be understood and categorised by mere mortals. Sometimes aloof, they can be jealous - it's said that the best way to attract one god's attention is to worship another one! - and are said to interfere in mortal affairs. Through a system of 'masks' deities are able to walk the land and meddle in whatever takes their interest. Mechanically, there are new domains and spells and the concept of the pantheistic priest. This novel cleric worships the five gods designated as the major powers wherever he lives, each week chosing one of them to venerate and receiving access to the appropriate domains. The underlying reasons for why the gods of Midgard are as they appear are explained, but this is a matter properly for the GM: even their clerics and most fervent devotees do not know! There's a lot of material here, enough to keep the keenest student of theology busy. Finally, an Appendix provides resources for those who'd like to use the Midgard setting with the AGE system rather than Pathfinder.

It's the sort of world that you feel that you could take a lifetime exploring it and still feel that you have only scratched at the surface. This is a book to dip into, to browse through, to read again and again. Whether you like to prowl in the woods, roam vast plains, travese deserts or trudge through deep snow, there is adventure and excitement and things to see and do at every turn. Primarily a book for GMs, there's a series of Player's Guides to the different regions available, if you want your players to learn more about where their characters are without giving away too many secrets. In sheer depth and richness, this setting is hard to beat - and one wonders just how so much is packed into 'only' just under 300 pages!


An excellent, flavorful campaign setting

5/5

I bought this book as a pdf and this review covers the pdf version of the product.

It was a campaign setting (the Forgotten Realms) that got me involved in RPGs, hooking me to the idea of playing (and running) adventures in an actual world that keeps on spinning regardless of the adventure's outcome, with nations, power groups, and individuals with their own goals and plots full of gaming potential. Flipping through the pages of a good campaign setting usually leaves me with dozens of potential adventure or campaign ideas.

The Midgard campaign setting is no exception. This wonderful, mythical world is overflowing with fascinating locations, horrifying evils, and excellent, original takes on many fantasy tropes. On most pages there is at least one or two ideas ready to be made into campaign or character ideas. There is an excellent mix of folklore inspired and truly original creations. Some particular standouts for me include the subterranean Ghoul Empire, the Seven Cities and their wars, the Wasted West with the slow moving horrors, Ley Lines, Shadow Roads, and the Gnomes, oh the awesome of the gnomes.

If you are looking for a world oozing with fun, flavorful locations and beings, with intriguing adventure ideas on almost every page, pick up this setting. Even if you don't move your campaign to Midgard you can find lots to use in this great book and setting.


MIDGARD CAMPAIGN SETTING REVIEW

5/5

(This is my 1st review.)
I’m a sucker for campaign settings. I have been since I purchased that first Greyhawk Campaign Setting with the charging knight on the front. I’ve used them as the foundation of my campaigns (Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Birthright, Golarion) and I’ve taken and ported elements that I liked from others (Ravenloft, Scarred Lands, Krynn). But despite my love of campaign settings, as with most things gaming, I’m pretty damned picky. If something doesn’t work for me, it usually really doesn’t work for me.

Also, for the record, prior to a few issues of Kobold Quarterly and an Advanced Feats PDF or two, I had not purchased any Open Design/Kobold Press products prior to the Midgard Campaign Setting, so I’m not reviewing this product through the lens of a Patron, a Kickstarter supporter, or as an established fan of the setting. I’m also someone who initially avoided the setting as it seemed to me that in those dark days before the PFRPG was launched, the setting was fully embracing 4e. (Full disclosure, there is little in 4e that appeals to me.)

This review is of the PDF, solely focused on the PFRPG elements (but I’ve ordered a hardcopy).

WHAT COMPRISES THE MIDGARD CAMPAIGN SETTING?
The Midgard Campaign Setting is a gorgeous book. Layout is clear, yet attractive with full-colored illustrations & detailed maps (with a scale on each map!).

Chapter 1: Midgard presents the setting at a high level and introduces setting-specific characteristics. Most notable are the “Seven Secrets” that present some core fundamentals about Midgard, in particular, that dragons seek to rule in parts of the world, ley lines are a major conceit of the setting, and that while the timeline isn’t overtly fixed, it is assumed that the setting can change in significant ways. While that last bit may be old hat for seasoned gamers, I’ve rarely seen the “permission” to change the world so explicitly stated.

History, calendar, recent events, festivals, and planes are presented next. The history is detailed enough to present a sense of scope and backdrop without bogging down into textbook-style reading, the planes are flavorful and presented more in a tone of myth and uncertainty than a scholar’s treatise on their characteristics. Calendars, festivals, and recent events, which are often relegated to later chapters in other setting books, help ground the reader in the setting by showing up earlier than usual.

Finally, Ley Line mechanics are presented. These support the richness of the setting lore within the familiar framework of Pathfinder feats. Some subsystem details complete the Ley Line rules without becoming a burdensome add-on.

Chapter 2: Heroes
Races, Languages, and campaign-specific Feats & Traits are up next. Here are many of the things that make Midgard distinct and they are the same things that foolishly deterred me from looking at the early Open Design releases when they were 4e-centric. Kobolds as a major race? Minotaurs as a player race – didn’t we already get that with DragonLance? Dragonkin, -er Dragonborn… can you see the eye-rolling from here? Except that it all works and deliciously, flavorfully, so. The dragonkin & kobolds tie directly to the setting conceit of empire-building dragons. The dragonkin are more akin to Arcana Evolved’s dragonman race than the 4e dragonborn fluff hyped by WotC (IMO, at least). Much as Paizo has done for Goblins and Ogres, dwarves and elves are familiar but varied slightly in their own unique ways. I’m still not a huge fan of Gearforged but they’re not omni-present in the setting. Centaurs, gnolls, and tengu get more prominence than they do in many settings. Every race is recognizable from Pathfinder RPG core concepts, but all have a distinctive Midgard spin to them.

The standouts of this chapter, however, are the Midgard Feats & Traits. Broken down by region, they are mechanically sound yet dripping with setting flavor from evocative names to concise descriptive text. These reinforce the cultural differences of the various regions while avoiding long stretches of description-by-essay. By not having to hit the “generic PFRPG” button that the PFRPG line has to do, these all feel very connected to the setting yet can easily be ported to other settings. They avoid the sometimes over-specific traits found in some of the PF AP player’s guides, but those are designed to serve a slightly different function anyway.

Chapters 3-9: The Regions of Midgard
The bulk of the campaign setting, it is also the part I will summarize the most as this review is lengthy as-is. Here are the sections where Midgard is painted in vivid colors and contrasts. Each chapter covers a particular region: The Crossroads, the Wasted West, the Dragon Empire, the Seven Cities, the Rothenian Plain, the Domains of the Princes, and the Northlands. With the exception of the Northlands, the names themselves are evocative and inspire further investigation. Yet all of the chapters have a structure and flow to them that encourages one to continue reading through – a feat most campaign settings fail to achieve. Plot hooks and adventure seeds are laden throughout and each region is distinct. Yet by pulling from Earth-based myth, particularly of Norse and Eastern Europe, it has a familiarity that allows the reader to quickly grasp the cultural concepts of each region.

Important game info is presented for each region: a more detailed map, population info, gods worshipped, etc. as one would expect. But it’s the little details that stand out. Details that are often hand-waved away in other settings are found here as well. Travel times & costs between various cities, trade goods, prominent castles, cultural tidbits, and relevant game mechanics all combine to form a rich, yet cohesive whole that can support a very diverse range of themes & playstyles. It’s a customized kitchen sink, not a generic one, and the setting is stronger for it.

Midgard is a darker setting yet is still a setting ideally suited for High Fantasy. Most settings chose to hew strongly towards the dark (WHFRP’s Known World) or the High Fantasy genre (Forgotten Realms), with only token attempts to support other genres and styles of play. Midgard strikes a great balance, making it easy for a GM to lean whichever way suits the campaign or players without having to drastically change the tone of the setting.

Chapter 10: Pantheon
Once again, my expectations were dashed with this chapter. Fantasy pantheons are a favorite setting aspect of mine and compared to a Book of the Righteous or Scarred Lands’ pantheon, how could gods pulled from Norse, Eastern European, and Egyptian myth possibly compare?

As it turns out, pretty damn well. Forgive my soapbox-grandstanding for a moment, but gods should not be the top of the monster pyramid for homicidal players to slay. In a game where alignment provides a shorthand for a character’s morality and ethics, portraying the gods as relevant for something more than the source of a cleric’s power can be a difficult goal to achieve. Pages of backstory on a god’s personality might make for an interesting read, but often has little bearing on the playing of the game. Too often, there is little room for theological debates, heresies, or wars and a rich source of conflict and story/setting development is lost.

So how does Midgard avoid these pitfalls? Masks & alignment. See, some of Midgard’s theologians believe that the gods represent themselves differently to different cultures. Few regions agree which of their gods are the “masks” of another in a different region. One man’s Thor may, or may not, be another man’s Mavros. Also, most gods, being unknowable and beyond mortality, usually only have one alignment axis fixed (Law, Chaos, Good, or Evil) and the other is variable. The result is a world where the familiar mythological figures shorten the learning curve for new players and where mystery is injected back into fantasy RPG religions.

In short, it rocks.

Of equal import, rather than paragraphs and pages on a god’s personality, we get more practical, game-relevant info: expectations of worshipers, symbols, holy texts, shrines, priests, and interactions with other faiths along with standard domain & favored weapon info.

WHAT SETS MIDGARD APART FROM OTHER SETTINGS?
I’ve considered writing RPG reviews of other products. However, with Midgard, I was inspired to write a review. Honestly, that bugged me. What was it about this setting that made it stand out among the many I’ve read and used in my games over the years? I’ve been ruminating over it for a few days and these were my “Aha!” takeaways:

1. Seasoned, not saturated.
This was the setting I shouldn’t have liked. It allowed for dragonman characters, gunpowder, clockwork/steampunk, and Earth-myth gods. All things I generally do not like in my FRPGing. But they’re placed in the setting in such a light-touched and organic way that the “coolness” outweighs my reservations. Limitations are placed in a way that seems plausible rather than forced. Most importantly, the writers understand that a little can go a long way and that it’s easier to increase certain elements to suit a GM’s game than it is to rip something out.

I love the clockwork city of Zobeck and the fact that dwarves have invented gunpowder. But I still get to have orders of knighthood, witches in the forest, and all of the medieval tropes that I embraced when I bought that first Greyhawk campaign setting. It doesn’t feel forced and it’s not laden with anachronisms that break the immersion in the setting.

2. Rules serve the setting rather than the setting serving the rules.
This is perhaps an unfair critique against other settings, and I’m sure it’s not true in all cases but it rings true to me. It’s how I felt after reading this book. I look at things like Ley Lines, the Mana Wastes, gearforged and the rest and it’s clear that they are there because the writers thought they were interesting and cool. They added to the distinctiveness of the world, the plot hooks, the adventure seeds – they added to Midgard’s character. They didn’t build a world to fit the Pathfinder RPG. They built a world and then built PFRPG rules that made the integration seamless.

3. “I want to run a campaign…here”.
This is the first RPG setting where I could not only envision running a campaign in every region, I wanted to do so. There were no regions that didn’t interest me, nowhere that I definitely wanted to stay away from, no place that didn’t “work for me”. I don’t know that anyone else will feel that way, but it was a first for me.

WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE?
Not a great deal, honestly. There are a few errors/typos such as the omission of the “Time Flies” optional rule while reference to it survives and things like races having a Favored Class rather than a character choosing their favored class.

While some will find it part of the setting’s charm, fans of elves and half-elves may be surprised at how elves are less common than in other settings. Halflings return to their Tolkein-esque roots and seem almost an afterthought.

After Paizo’s much-cheered revamp of gnomes into an interesting race, some might be taken aback at the dark circumstances of many of Midgard’s gnomes. However, it’s not a universal situation for the entire race, so again, season to taste.

There is little mention of orcs, and I’ve always had a soft-spot for orcs as one of my go-to bad guys. I hope that they gain some prominence in the setting if the line expands to regions beyond the seven described in the campaign setting.

CONCLUSION

Midgard is a rich, vibrant campaign setting that should be in every fantasy RPG library. It’s familiar without feeling rehashed. It’s unique in a way that enriches the differences rather than overshadowing other genres or aspects of the game. It’s written in a way that provides a massive amount of info in manageable chunks and ignites the imagination.

Yes, it’s that damn good. Go get it now. 5 of 5 stars.


a great book, please, where in golarion can i put the Midgard?

5/5

Ok, maybe for someones the book is not so good!!
but try to read me and i explain why my 5stars

There is no classes inside, its ok, i would prefer one or two but i can handel it.

what you will find inside this pages is a lot of flavor, old and beautiful flavor!!

I want a golarion as flavorful as Midgard

There are a lot of races to expand with the ultimate race guide, there are some new spells. feats and items. I also love the traits per nation!!

Seriously, im still waiting for the traits for every etnithy in the iswg!!

Great game, my second purchase from midgard (the 1st one was the crossroad and there is one of my favorite class: The Shadowsworn)


Great Product, but I recommend waiting for the second printing

4/5

I can support most of the positive things people have said below, so there's no reason to dive into what others have obviously spent more time going over. I love the flavor of the world and the setting, and it has a nice Germanic flavor that really tickles my personal interest. I love the cartography in this book as well, so amazingly well done!

I do have some problems with the product though and figure I may as well give warning to anyone interested in purchasing the first print run. There are quite a few typos throughout the book, and while that's not so bad there are some instances of placeholder text left in (the most prominent instance was $$ rather than the page number that was being referenced). While this can be understandable to some as an admissible error for a smaller publishing company, but when I'm investing $50 on a hardcover book this leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Other small complaints of mine include: I feel there is some pretty poor art at points, but the overwhelming amount of art is astounding and more than makes up for it. This is a very admissible problem for a smaller publisher, and the good far outweighs the bad. I was also a bit disappointed with the section on the races of Midgard in general, it only encompass about 1/2 the amount of info I would have liked and am left assuming that if it wasn't covered in the MCS that I should just grab the flavor from Golarion (which takes me out of the setting a little).

So as you can tell these are only minor distractions. Honestly if just a bit more care was taken with the copy editing for this book I would still have given this product a 5 star rating, and I personally find the amount of issues in this book to be careless and not just an accident here and there. The second printing I'm sure will fix these issues so my recommendation is to wait on that and get the gorgeous hardcover version. The setting, layout, cartography, and world building in this book are top notch and it is because of that the issues I have with the first printing sting all the more.


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The Exchange Kobold Press

Thank you Ayronis! Midgard does have a ton of great toys. I think the ley lines and the Huginn and the walkers and the status rules are my favorites. And the dragon magic. :)

And also, there's a new review up right here!

Sothmektri wrote:
Soon I'm starting up my own campaign, though, and it will be Midgard to the hilt!

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Dang it, I don't have the money to drop on this right now.

I'll probably still do it however.


Jim Groves wrote:
SuperSlayer wrote:
I'm going to pick this book up along with a sixer of ale and say goodbye to the real world for a few hours.

Have a safe trip!

And for pity's sake, don't buy your booze from gnomes!

The Gnomes under my house have provided me with some of the best golden brew's I ever tasted for years now so I would say it's a bit late.

Regarding the book. This book should of been made a long long time ago. Get with it RPG companies!!!


Cities. WOW, cities. The maps, the regions, the people, everything in this book is delectably ripe for plunder.

Bought the Midgard Campaign Setting, would buy again.

Excellent work Kobold Press!


Before I dive into my review I want to put my feeling in a little context: I am a GM & I have my own home brew world which is neatly mapped out using campaign cartographer. I have extensive notes about this world kept in a file using Scrivner on my apple mac book. My players enjoy multiple handouts which support what I hope is a rich and immersive world. Why would I even pick up let alone appreciate a complete campaign guide? When picking up a campaign guid I am looking for a well organized reference book which contains both a fresh approach to the fantasy world genre as well as many small details which make the world come alive. Provided the book is well organized I should be able to pull many of the ideas and locations and drop them into my world with minimal effort. - simply put this work scores on all fronts. It is beautifully illustrated. It presents the information clearly and is a trove of imagination ripe with potential adventure and exploration. - well done team Kobold.

The Exchange Kobold Press

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PartyPatch and Tanglebones, thank you! I am sorely tempted to quote you at the release party tomorrow night. "Delectably ripe for plunder" is so very true.

If you happen to be in the Seattle area, hey, it's a Midgard release party at AFK Tavern. Click on through, the menu is awesome.

Grand Lodge

Wolfgang Baur wrote:
If you happen to be in the Seattle area, hey, it's a Midgard release party at AFK Tavern. Click on through, the menu is awesome.

It'd be nice to be able to go to this...

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4

Digitalelf wrote:
Wolfgang Baur wrote:
If you happen to be in the Seattle area, hey, it's a Midgard release party at AFK Tavern. Click on through, the menu is awesome.
It'd be nice to be able to go to this...

You said it brother!

Oh to be wealthier than I am now!


Wolfgang Baur wrote:

PartyPatch and Tanglebones, thank you! I am sorely tempted to quote you at the release party tomorrow night. "Delectably ripe for plunder" is so very true.

If you happen to be in the Seattle area, hey, it's a Midgard release party at AFK Tavern. Click on through, the menu is awesome.

I'd love to if I had the money. But I doubt I could even afford the gas from here in western Montana.


Wolfgang Baur wrote:

Thank you Ayronis! Midgard does have a ton of great toys. I think the ley lines and the Huginn and the walkers and the status rules are my favorites. And the dragon magic. :)

And also, there's a new review up right here! []

I'm an Odinist, so I am partial to all of the Northlands stuff. I am even ignoring the fact that 'mead' was called an 'ale' in it, instead of linking it more with wines. (Can't remember if it was in the CS or the Northlands book.)

I am drinking some Huckleberry Mead right now. ;) I may drink either Chokecherry Mead or Spiced Mead later. But I will give a small amount to the earth in honor of the setting.

But I do like the take on Tengu also.

I am also fond of the Septimes. Also, the Gearforged.

Hel, I just like the damn setting....


Mead, I hope you'vfe checked out the Northlands-sourcebook. I wrote the stave-introduction fluff text for the chapters in that one as well as the skald archetype and am rather proud of them! :)

Liberty's Edge

Really? That's cool, End - I didn't know that! I'll have to check your work out now!

Heh, maybe I'll even turn the table and write a review ... :)


Hit me as hard as you can, Marc! I was also the annoying guy that made sure the respective norse/norwegians/swedish/germanic etc. nomenclature sin that book would work out for their respective cultures, so if you consider that annoying, it is at least partially my fault. ;P


Endzeitgeist wrote:
Mead, I hope you'vfe checked out the Northlands-sourcebook. I wrote the stave-introduction fluff text for the chapters in that one as well as the skald archetype and am rather proud of them! :)

Yup, I love the Northlands sourcebook. That was a sourcebook I had been eyeing for a long time, but I put it off and put it off until after I bought the Campaign Setting.

Bards are not my favorite class. In general I would never play one. I might be interested in playing the Skald you wrote though were I to play and not just collect books. Great job!

I haven't played any Pathfinder since I moved from Florida to Montana... harder to get a group. There was almost as many people in my county there, as this entire state.

Ahh well, at least if I get a group. I'll have the books. I'm all about readiness and prepping when it comes to survival... Might as well be the same for gaming.


Endzeitgeist wrote:
Hit me as hard as you can, Marc! I was also the annoying guy that made sure the respective norse/norwegians/swedish/germanic etc. nomenclature sin that book would work out for their respective cultures, so if you consider that annoying, it is at least partially my fault. ;P

I did find the use of Tuoni as a female Trylleri name a bit odd. ;) but that is because I used to go by that name online. Tuoni is male.

I'm just teasing though, of course. I thought that in general, they fit.

Sovereign Court

I have just received my book, and I am thrilled. It looks beautiful, and seems to offer everything it promised.


The Tuoni-thing was aresult of Finnish influences being the forte of other patrons, not yours truly, so yeah, I'm not to keen on that either. ;)


Endzeitgeist wrote:
The Tuoni-thing was aresult of Finnish influences being the forte of other patrons, not yours truly, so yeah, I'm not to keen on that either. ;)

As I said, it was just teasing anyone. It is not the first time I have had a username mistaken for a girls name.

The Exchange Kobold Press

Two more reviews! Thank you LeslieBrown16 and Patrick Curtin.

Liberty's Edge

Thanks to a lighter than usual subscription month from Paizo, I went ahead and got the Hardback and PDF combo...I have really liked everything I have read from Open Design and am looking forward to this product!

I am a hard core Golarian GM, but always looking for ideas to steal for my campaign!!

Silver Crusade

Right now I don't see me using the (excellently presented) world as is, but the gods chapter is too good to pass up! And the ley lines are hyper cool. Great book!

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16

Hrm, I had a little trouble finding Chapter 6 in the Table of Contents, had a quick panic that the Seven Cities weren't in Midgard, but thankfully, I was able to find it in the book!

The Exchange Kobold Press

There is, thank goodness, a very, very good index in the back. :)


The Midgard CS is fantastic. Art. Concept. Rules/crunch. And for all you folk still unconvinced - don't forget there's also this:

Midgard Preview

This little PDF rocks! A couple of totally awesome short fiction pieces by Wade Rockett and Jeff Grubb really introduce the feel, splendour and scope of the setting. There's also some overview of nations/states, a Huginn (Midgard tengu) writeup a la ARG including a Huginn Sorceror bloodline and amazing, amazing artwork throughout. It's free! Take a look!


That was a quick fix with the TOC.


Also, don't forget the very cool Midgard Atlas app for iPad. When I (finally) get to start a new campaign in Midgard, my iPad will be displaying the cloud-speckled map of Midgard for entire sessions :)

The Exchange Kobold Press

1 person marked this as a favorite.

There's now a free preview of the setting, with two short stories (one by Guild Wars writer Jeff Grubb), plus a new PC race, the ravenfolk.

Did I mention it is free?

The Exchange Kobold Press

New review at Tower of the Lonely GM, and also a new review right here at Paizo by LeDM.

Key quotes:

LeDM wrote:

I haven't been this excited about a campaign setting in a loooong time...

This book does not disappoint, and in fact makes the city of Zobeck and the region surrounding it the "heart" of the entire realm. I have the same feelings about adventuring here as when I first cracked the AD&D Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting grey box and discovered the Dalelands and Candlekeep. It stokes the fires of imagination and makes me excited to write adventures.

You can check the whole review right here, of course. And then we have:

Tower wrote:

Midgard’s allure (for me) comes from the way Wolfgang Baur mixes Eastern European and Nordic legends with the D&D legendarium – it reads as a classic (or historic game), but also as something fresh....

After a stunning cover, we’re introduced to Midgard’s premises. While I enjoyed its strong “fairy” take on elves and the way dragons intervene on the world, I was especially pleased to see the metagame element of ‘Time Flies, and Status Matters’. Midgard is not your usual ‘Points of Light’ setting – here adventures get old and also get famous, with all its benefits and complications. I really like this approach.

Liberty's Edge

Wolfgang Baur wrote:

There's now a free preview of the setting, with two short stories (one by Guild Wars writer Jeff Grubb), plus a new PC race, the ravenfolk.

Did I mention it is free?

Will this also be available for download here on Paizo.com?

Scarab Sages

Loving the Patron PDF's ... just waiting on the book to get over to me. But post coming over the Atlantic can take a while!
Thinking of starting a Kingmaker game in Midgard too.

The Exchange Kobold Press

Marc Radle wrote:
Wolfgang Baur wrote:
There's now a free preview of the setting, with two short stories (one by Guild Wars writer Jeff Grubb), plus a new PC race, the ravenfolk.
Will this also be available for download here on Paizo.com?

It will. However, a couple of the designers have asked for changes to the credits, and I'd like to make those before uploading here. So, patience, but we'll have it live on Paizo in a while as well.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

I have a statement to make about Kobold Press and their Customer Service. I was waiting for my copy of the Midgard Campaign Setting and was waiting, and waiting and waiting. Finally I contacted Wolfgang to ask when they were shipped out. He figured the time of delivery and asked for continuous updates to see if it was delayed somehow. After constantly bugging our mail carrier it was determined that my copy had been lost in transit. Wolfgang took me at my word and arranged to have a replacement sent out free of any additional charges. I have had only one similar experience with lost packages and that was with Paizo. Both companies are top notch in my opinion. I have no problem continuing to purchase products from Kobold Press. Thank you to Wolfgang and Shelly. You folks are tops.

Just my 2 cp.

The Exchange Kobold Press

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Thanks, Silverhair! Customer service doesn't always get the recognition it deserves, so I doubly appreciate it.

While I'm here, Midgard was reviewed by io9 today! I'm excited to see a major geekdom site take a look, especially with a summation like this:

io9 wrote:

a massive tome [with] expected, traditional fantasy tropes like elves and centaurs, dragons and demons; you'll also find delightfully startling twists on those old ideas. The centaurs are steppe nomads, and the huginn (ravenfolk) are descended from Odin's raven companions, for instance.

That reliance on semi-familiar folklore is a huge plus for this campaign setting. The gods range from Norse myths, less well-known Slavic deities, demonic dragon gods and a pantheon derived from ancient Egyptian lore. You won't find pigeonholed fantasy stereotypes too often. Not all elves live in tree cities, not all dwarves live underground.

There's a complexity and a dark beauty to this setting that comes through in the many tales woven throughout it and the excellent art....
Even if you have no intention of playing the game, it's an amazing book just to read through and experience a cohesive, rich fantasy world.

Contributor

Preview PDF added, and a few sample pages as well!

The Exchange Kobold Press

Thanks, Liz!

The preview includes "The Bloodtide", a short story by Jeff Grubb, as well as a setting overview and a new PC Race, the Ravenfolk or Huginn.

And hey, free is good.


Just received my copy. A gorgeous book - very glad to have been part of it. 2012 has been an awesome year for outstanding, exceptional products somewhat out of the ordinary - it's a tough year to stand out from the crowd, but this manages with aplomb. The production values are exceptional, the setting rich and unique without being gimmicky..

I can't recommend it enough. Thanks Wolfgang and all concerned. Fantastic product. :)


My replacement copy of the Midgard Campaign Setting got here today. It was just mailed on Thursday. Thank you Shelly and Wolfgang.


I'm already putting material and places into my current midgard campaign that I'm going to use this fall. Great book!


I have a question. My Patron copy has 2 signatures on the Title page. I can make out one as being Wolfgang's, but cannot make out the other. Anyone know who the 2nd signature is?

Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

silverhair2008 wrote:
I have a question. My Patron copy has 2 signatures on the Title page. I can make out one as being Wolfgang's, but cannot make out the other. Anyone know who the 2nd signature is?

I'm pretty sure that's Jeff Grubb.

What number did you get?


142. It seems the first one was lost in transit. I am still wondering if it will find its way here.

I am fixing to hand over the reins of GM'ing in January to one of my Wednesday players. But I am so wanting to run a PF in Midgard. I just need to get some more background guides so I can do it justice.

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 8

Just picked this up at my local FLGS. They admitted they usually don't carry much outside of the Paizo core (being a comic shop primarily) so I let them know that Kobold Press was good stuff. Looking forward to perusing it now with a cup of coffee. The production quality of the hardback book is excellent.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Adam Daigle wrote:
silverhair2008 wrote:
I have a question. My Patron copy has 2 signatures on the Title page. I can make out one as being Wolfgang's, but cannot make out the other. Anyone know who the 2nd signature is?

I'm pretty sure that's Jeff Grubb.

What number did you get?

Yup, that's Jeff Grubb's signature.

Scarab Sages

Number 140 of the Patron copies has arrived. Cannot stop myself read it!
Thanks to all the Kobolds, (and other patrons) for making the whole patronage of the project so much fun!

Cannot help to recommend the book and Kobold Press too much.

The Exchange Contributor; Publisher, Kobold Quarterly

Thanks, Harper101! It turned out very well.

So well, in fact, that the Haste Podcast over at Obsidian Portal has devoted an episode to talking about it. Available now for your listeningification.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Well, I finally committed to it. Hopefully it will be here when I get back from training Friday.


Got the book. It's drop dead gorgeous.

If I were to complain All I can say at this point, it's that's my home city analog, Krakova, has been given the crest based on our cultural competitor, Warsaw. Why couldn't you give something more neutral? It's as bad as using derogative term for old lady as a name for NPC in Tales of Old Margreve (well, I know that some parents have a twisted sens of humor and named their son Dick Assman, but still...).

Otherwise it's perfect.

Regards,
Ruemere


That's not so different from my city, Raguza, was turned into a diabolist pirate port, with no autonomy from the ''Venetians''. To add more insult the ruler of the city, sorceress Biljana, is a Serbian name.


Interestng stuff! The gearforged are a little confusing though. It doesn't say they can wear armor but it doesn't say they can't. Any thoughts on that?

The Exchange Contributor; Publisher, Kobold Quarterly

Good question, and yes, they can wear armor!

There's much more on the Gearforged and Clockwork Magic coming in the Player's Guide to the Crossroads, available Monday.

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