Ten thousand years ago, faced with extinction, the terrified leaders of Nidal heard whispers in their minds—promises of salvation for their nation if only they'd submit their people's bodies and souls to perpetual servitude. Those leaders' assent transformed them into conduits for Zon-Kuthon, the god of envy and pain, and has sealed Nidal's fate to this day.
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Nidal, Land of Shadows draws back the curtain from one of Golarion's most wicked and mysterious theocracies. Within these pages, you'll find:
Detailed descriptions of Nidal's history, including its tragic fall into Zon-Kuthon's grasp.
An in-depth gazetteer of the entire nation, from settlements to more sinister features.
Malevolent adventure sites from the Castle of the Captive Sun to the Tower of Slant Shadows.
A bestiary of shadowy creatures, including the suffragan kyton, that lurk in Nidal and beyond.
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Nidal, Land of Shadows is intended for use with the Pathfinder campaign setting, but it can be easily adapted to any fantasy world.
ISBN-13: 978-1-64078-033-0
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... all the bits and pieces of information we've had coming out piecemeal over the years coalesce into a quite enjoyable write-up of Nidal, arguably the most screwed-up nation-state in Avistan.
The sense of just how oppressive the place is really comes across in the art and the writing, and the historical bits are quite well fleshed-out.
While not quite as outré as it maybe could have been, it's still pretty grim going in places. At the same time, you get a taste of what Nidal was before it knuckled under to a god of pain and darkness, and a sense of what the place has to offer.
A terrific description of one of the most evil countries
Nidal is an intriguing nation and one of the most unique to Golarion, in my view.
This first part of the book does a brilliant job of portraying the thorough depravity of the place and what it’s like to live under the oppressive, slightly insane theocracy. The following chapter on adventure sites is full of adventure hooks and places/reasons to visit. The book finishes off with half a dozen well chosen, nidalese themed monsters.
I think it’s hard to portray a truly evil place without descending into parody and this book has avoided that trap with great skill. It was exquisitely written and a joy to read (albeit with the occasional shiver).
As with all good sourcebooks, I ended up with half a dozen campaign/adventure ideas rolling around in my head. That’s the point of these kinds of supplements and I can’t give it anything other than five stars.
I bought this book in the expectation of a little edgy goodness. It is a guidebook about Nidal for crying out loud. It even came with a "graphic content"-warning.
Well, that warning was overselling the content in the worst way. I expected a horror movie and I got the disney-fied all-ages version. I am so disappointed. This book has no spells, no magic items, no classes. In fact, no crunch at all. It is one big, sanitized National Geographic article. Yawn! I could have pieced the entire content together myself with a few hours of work from previous sources, with the possible exception of the city maps.
If it was possible to get a refund on the basis of "try again, buddy", I would.
This book does a great job of conveying what a country being run be Zon-Kuthon for millennia actually looks like and how the practicalities work out. Nidal really makes a lot more sense to me, and I'm a lot better equipped to run an adventure there after reading this. Check it out!
Long shrouded with secrecy and terror this books finally dives into the shadowy horror that is Nidal. And it is wonderful.
The overview of the various areas and the art along with it are awesome, and an absolute treat for GMs and players who have long had/wanted characters to be from this dreadful place.
Warning: this book contains VERY disturbing themes and certain pieces of art, being, ya'know, the country of misery and torture. And now that you've been warned, enjoy ^w^
If that were true I would have to show THEM how to be a good Kuthonite...
Glad I don't have to, though =D
Disclaimer:
All Malefactor would actually do if it was an April Fool's joke would be to pout. Malefactor does use or condone the use of violence against people who make Pathfinder material. No Kuthonites were harmed in the making of that joke (something they are quite upset about). All rights reserved.
Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
Holy guacamole! Finally! Erik promised we'd get one eventually and it is finally happening!
It will be interesting to get a closer look at Nidal, and to see how players can be convinced to send their characters there. Heck, why would anyone want to go to Nidal?
In-game, it must stink to be part of the Nidalese Tourism Board. "Come to hideous Nidal, and die horribly and painfully along with everyone else"?
Oh man, Nidal was number 2 on my list of places I wanted the Campaign Setting books to visit. Now we just need our Realm of the Mammoth Lords book and I'm happy. Very excited about this book.
Any word on authors? I hope there's some flavour stuff from Liane Merciel in there. Nidal has always been intriguing to me but she really brought it to horrific life with Isiem and his struggles in Nightglass.
Any word on authors? I hope there's some flavour stuff from Liane Merciel in there. Nidal has always been intriguing to me but she really brought it to horrific life with Isiem and his struggles in Nightglass.
I hope Liane got to work on this, I love her stuff ^w^
Not sure if it is because I'm such a fan of Shelyn, and, by extension, her relationship with her brother gone wrong, but Nidal held a special place in my heart since I first learned about it. Good to see that it finally (again :) )gets the love it deserves.
And full agreement with Steve about Liane Merciel and what she did with Nightglass. Easily one of my most favorite novels in the whole Pathfinder Tales line
Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
Rysky wrote:
Steve Geddes wrote:
Any word on authors? I hope there's some flavour stuff from Liane Merciel in there. Nidal has always been intriguing to me but she really brought it to horrific life with Isiem and his struggles in Nightglass.
I hope Liane got to work on this, I love her stuff ^w^
Add me to the list who also loves her stuff and hopes she is one of the featured authors in this book.
So after this what are the other areas of the Inner Sea left to cover in a campaign setting book?
Tangent:
From west to east, north to south: the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, Mendev, Brevoy, Varisia, Lastwall, Razmiran, Druma, Kyonin, Five Kings Mountains, Galt, Isger, Rahadoum, Thuvia, Mediogalti Island, the Sodden Lands, Nex, the Mana Wastes, Geb, and Sargava.
It seems like starting with Construct Builders Handbook, the campaign setting books are alternating between expanding rules/specific locations, and regional books. Not sure if it's just a coincidence or what, but it's interesting at least. I don't think the map folios are going to count towards the 6 a year limit, so that's good at least.
Classic Monsters Revisited even got a reprint, from memory.
My impression is that the early ones were very popular but that as they moved further afield their popularity waned. (That's only based on forum chatter obviously, not any actual sales data).
Hopes this one has a lot of creatures in the bestiary section, like some of the older books do.
I really miss getting ten creatures in a Campaign Setting
I just wish that this would have hit while Wes was still around. It was my understanding that this was his area of the world with his love of Cenobites and Barker. Here is to hoping he makes a return as freelancer to put his mark on this. That being said, very much looking forward to it!
A book on Nidal is nice and all, but a companion book covering Kytons is like the peanut butter to this book's jelly. I am aware there will likely be a bestiary chock full o' kytons but it is not the same. It really isn't.
Other wants are more shadow magic: spells, wondrous items, artifacts, weapons, and armor.