Penumbra: Dynasties & Demagogues (OGL) PDF

Out of curiosity, does anyone out there own this book? I'm intrigued by it (no pun intended), but I haven't been able to find a copy to browse through. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Yes, I do.
You'll love this book if you plan your next campaign to be centred on political intrigue. Don't expect anything different from the book, though. ;-)

It is 160 pages (black & white). Graphics are beautiful and look very much like 19th century "medieval style" prints you find in old fairy tale or saga books.

The content:
Section I gives you a theoretical overview on what to consider when developing a political campaign. It contains a sample adventure lay out, general information on political systems, an overview of fantasy races and their political systems, and the use of magic in politics (i.e. spells usable in political campaigns)

Section II explores character development possibilities in political campaigns: Personality feats (statement about your PC's behaviour, following this concepts gives your PC action points you can spend on improving dice rolls), new uses for old skills (e.g. appraise for evaluating political topics), more feats, and new prestige classes. Tips on using existing base classes in political campaigns are included, too.

One chapter is about debates and political manouvers only. It is closely related to skill use, but you might feel that you move too far from the flavour of "normal D&D" (i.e. action and some role playing in contrast to e.g. exchanging political arguments). Another very special topic are voting systems and methods to deal with them - not everyone might be interested in this.

Section III describes political adventures and campaigns.
This section gives tips on how putting it all together: Plot ideas, tips on DM'ing political adventures, including humour, adding action etc.

All in all I like this book very much.
You might feel, though, that some of the proposed rule expansions are too specific and/ or reach too far.

If you are into politically themed adventures, look for tips on developping and DM'ing such adventures, and some fluff for it, this is the book for you.

Greetings,
Günther

I own it, and am looking forward to using it in Kingmaker. It's very specific to political encounters and adventures, and tries to offer way for even non-political characters to participate. It has a new trap, the "trap of bureaocracy (sp?)" which is hilarious, and a way to run political debates as if they were fights.

When I saw my DM's copy, I had to buy it myself. When I showed it to another DM, he had to get his own copy too. I just bought a PDF version to have it with me on the go.

If you're looking to have political encounters, this can be a wonderful resource.

I'd love to get this, but the shipping costs for non-americans tend to be prohibitive. Does anyone know anywhere this can be bought (legally) as a PDF?

Forget it, I'm an idiot, hadnt noticed the banner said PDF...

Check the Steve Jackson Games estore. Atlas sells their pdfs there.

Thanks for the review, Guenarr. I really have to get this book someday...

Note that the debate rules from this got updated/adapted to Pathfinder in Debatable Actions for PFRPG by LPJ Design .

The debate rules are fairly complex for players who aren't used to them. I've found that for PF, I like the social combat cards or the 4E Skill Challenge mechanic.

We had a nice thread on social combat recently here .

Yes, I do.

You'll love this book if you plan your next campaign to be centred on political intrigue. Don't expect anything different from the book, though. ;-)

It is 160 pages (black & white). Graphics are beautiful and look very much like 19th century "medieval style" prints you find in old fairy tale or saga books.

The content:
Section I gives you a theoretical overview on what to consider when developing a political campaign. It contains a sample adventure lay out, general information on political systems, an overview of fantasy races and their political systems, and the use of magic in politics (i.e. spells usable in political campaigns)

Section II explores character development possibilities in political campaigns: Personality feats (statement about your PC's behaviour, following this concepts gives your PC action points you can spend on improving dice rolls), new uses for old skills (e.g. appraise for evaluating political topics), more feats, and new prestige classes. Tips on using existing base classes in political campaigns are included, too.

One chapter is about debates and political manouvers only. It is closely related to skill use, but you might feel that you move too far from the flavour of "normal D&D" (i.e. action and some role playing in contrast to e.g. exchanging political arguments). Another very special topic are voting systems and methods to deal with them - not everyone might be interested in this.

Section III describes political adventures and campaigns.
This section gives tips on how putting it all together: Plot ideas, tips on DM'ing political adventures, including humour, adding action etc.

All in all I like this book very much.
You might feel, though, that some of the proposed rule expansions are too specific and/ or reach too far.

If you are into politically themed adventures, look for tips on developping and DM'ing such adventures, and some fluff for it, this is the book for you.

Greetings,
Günther

How are the prestige classes? I bought the pdf so I guess I will find out soon, but right now it’s bugged so I can’t download it.