Pathfinder Chronicles: Guide to the River Kingdoms (PFRPG) (based on
4
reviews)
Paizo Publishing, LLC
Add
Print Edition:
$19.99
Add
PDF:
$13.99
Stake your claim! In the anarchic hills and valleys of the River Kingdoms, all you own is what you can hold by force. Dozens of nations flourish in this land of outlaws and scoundrels, from high-walled city-states to tiny tribal enclaves, and any hero with strength and vision can claim a throne at the point of a sword. Here secretive druids protect ancient forests, and downtrodden refugees and exiles cast longing eyes toward lost homelands. Civilized sea monsters trapped far from the briny deep rub shoulders with legitimized assassins, and strange magic can pull a prosperous town in and out of time and space. With the constant rise and fall of bandit lords, there’s no limit to the power and prestige bold adventurers can find—though whether they can keep it is another story.
Inside this 64-page book, you’ll find:
A complete overview of the River Kingdoms, their statistics and history, and the Six River Freedoms that enforce honor among thieves
In-depth entries on 22 new nations from some of the most imaginitive authors in fantasy and science fiction, including award-winning author
China Miéville, New York Times bestseller Elaine Cunningham, and gaming legends Chris Pramas, Colin McComb, Lisa Stevens, and Steve Kenson
Adventure hooks for every nation, fully fleshed-out and ready to be dropped into your existing campaign
New feats, spells, class abilities, and poisons native to the River Kingdoms
An exhaustive map of the River Kingdoms, including ancient ruins, haunted cities, monstrous lairs, and much more
Though created for the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, the information presented in this book is perfect for inclusion in any game world, and makes an excellent supplement for the Kingmaker Adventure Path.
by Eric Bailey, Kevin Carter, Elaine Cunningham, Adam Daigle, Mike Ferguson, Joshua J. Frost, James Jacobs, Steve Kenson, Rob Manning, Colin McComb, Alison McKenzie, China Miéville, Brock Mitchel-Slentz, Jason Nelson, Richard Pett, Chris Pramas, Jeff Quick, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Neil Spicer, Lisa Stevens, Matthew Stinson, and John Wick.
Indispensable with the Kingmaker Adventure Path, The River Kingdoms reads like a fantasy novel sampler kit; look who wrote it after all. My only complaint? Why did they limit it to 64 pages? This could easily have gone much bigger...adventure path sized. Check my full review Guide to the River Kingdoms
The River Kingdoms is one of the more interesting settings for Golarion. Paizo does a nice job of keeping things detailed just enough to give creative GMs some leeway to add in some details of their own.
Being a big fan of China Mieville, I greatly appreciated his contributions in the description of the unique city state of Outsea.
There are some great sites of interest within one of the more standout areas of the campaign milieu that the PCs can explore. For example, a town that is a town but not a town... Can't say more as I don't wish to spoil it for any upcoming readers.
If you're thinking about using Paizo's next AP- Kingmaker, I strongly recommend purchasing this sourcebook.
I too wish there were more NPCs in the sourcebook but the material was an intriguing read.
This book deals with the River Kingdoms, an area crammed with independent states, countries, fiefdoms, cities, towns or even villages. Setting up such a patchwork allowed Paizo to bring a whole host of authors to write about 22 areas, each of them different and unique.
And the writing is, wow, excellent. From RPG veterans (John Wick, Chris Pramas, Richard Pett, the Paizo Crew), rising stars (RPG Superstar winners) to veterans of fiction (Elaine, China) the line-up is amazing and the quality rocks the house. The areas are unique, vivid and sometimes plain outlandish.
However, the book has a few shortcomings. Presentation of the chapters is not standardized - some authors provided city statblocks, flags/coats of arms while others kept to pure fluff. The map is somewhat unclear and lacks detail - a poster map would be a far better move.
Also, while the books is written with background material in mind, the amount of crunch is very, very small. There are next to no feats, traits, spells or equipment.
Overall - great writing and excellent ideas with some slight presentation issues and a dire need for more crunchy bits. Still, it's a fantastic book and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
I just received River Kingdoms and eagerly started to read it cover to cover. However, it seemed to me that yes, while it is a guide and a rich setting to be fleshed out in more details later, I would assume, the price tag to width and depth of the Kingdoms richness ratio is a little lackluster, sorry to say. Maybe to add more it needs more maps and biographies on some of the personalities in the Kingdoms? Just didn't seem up to par with the previous books for the price tag.
Recent Posts
