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.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-203-6
DriveThruRPG: This product is available as print-on-demand from DriveThruRPG:
In the official Pathfinder campaign setting of Golarion, the River Kingdoms is an area intentionally underdeveloped to give room for the GM and players to create or import their own fictional creations without clashing against established canonical countries. The River Kingdoms are really a couple of dozen small, independent nations that range from small city-states to bandit fortresses; all they have in common is dependence on the River Sellen. One of the River Kingdoms, the Stolen Lands, is the site of the Kingmaker Adventure Path, a campaign that sees PCs carving out their own state. The Guide to the River Kingdoms provides short descriptions of 22 different areas, and although it’s certainly not comprehensive in detail, it provides enough of an introductory overview to get creative GMs on the right track. Interestingly, each of the areas is written by a different author, and Paizo was able to get some big names (like China Mieville and Elaine Cunningham) to contribute.
The inside front cover is a map of the River Kingdoms, showing the different branches of the Sellen, notable settlements and ruins, and the wavy borders between the different kingdoms.
The book starts with a nine-page overview that talks about life in the River Kingdoms, with a focus on the Six River Freedoms, an unwritten code that binds the people of the disparate kingdoms together. There’s also a good discussion of how those countries that border the River Kingdoms interact with it. The section concludes with a brief entry for two minor deities widely worshipped in the River Kingdoms: Gyronna (hag goddess of hatred, extortion and spite) and Hanspur (god of rivers and river travel). I thought this section was really well done, and gives the River Kingdoms a unique niche in Golarion.
The entire rest of the book are entries for the River Kingdoms. The entries are either 1 page, 2 pages, or 4 pages long for each kingdom. Each entry includes a brief introduction, a settlement stat block (not the full version from the Game Mastery Guide, unfortunately), and then paragraphs on Government, Notable Sites, Resources, Adventurers, and (for the longer entries) Adventure Hooks. The entries are in alphabetical order, and it’s not necessarily clear why some countries got very short entries and others got longer entries. The kingdoms covered are:
• Cordelion (1 page): Xenophobic kingdom deep in the forest with elven ancestry—also forgettable.
• Daggermark (4 pages): Apparently the largest of the kingdoms, despite having a well-regulated system where anyone can legally hire assassins to kill anyone else (except military personnel)! I don’t know why anyone would live there, but the entry is interesting. Five new poisons are introduced, but they’re pretty boring except for Shamweed (which gradually buffs the recipients Constitution for a week before turning incredibly nasty)
• Gralton (4 pages): An interesting country formed by refugees from the inquisitions in Galt, with nobles forced out of necessity to take up trades while dreaming of returning to their homeland. I could imagine using Gralton in a storyline.
• Heibarr (1 page): A cool ghost city.
• Hymbria (1 page): An elven community with a dark side—not too shabby.
• Lambreth (4 pages): Great backstory of a kingdom rescued from Razmiri encroachment by a savior who was too good to be true.
• Linerthane (1 page): Nice little story of idealist paladin with a fortress and big dreams of someday fixing Galt.
• Loric Fells (1 page): Monster infested.
• Mivon (4 pages): Cowards who fled Brevoy while maintaining the Aldori sword-dueling ethos. The entry includes a good codified list of rules for Mivoni duelling.
• Mosswater (1 page): A good adventuring locale: a town long overrun by merrow.
• Nystra (1 page): A concept very similar to Mosswater, but this time the culprit is yellow musk creeper and strange insect-like gargoyles.
• Outsea (4 pages): My personal favourite of the bunch. Written by China Mieville, the backstory to this place is just crazy-ridiculous-cool. I have an Undine PFS character from Outsea, aided by a regional trait in Blood of the Elements.
• Pitax (4 pages): Interesting, politically-divided town that is infested by thieves. A good place to start a campaign, as it could support various themes.
• The Protectorate of the Black Marquis (2 pages): Pirate despot town with interesting backstory.
• Riverton (1 page): Theocracy with a great cult leader.
• Sevenarches (4 pages): Original kingdom ruled by druids, with fey support, with no elves allowed due to mysterious disease.
• The Stolen Lands (4 pages): As I mentioned, this is apparently where Kingmaker takes place. From the description here, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would *want* to make a kingdom in this sh#*hole.
• Touvette (2 pages): Harsh, lawful kingdom.
• Tymon (4 pages): Lisa Stevens’ baby, a gladiatorial kingdom with a constantly reincarnated leader who has been running the joint for 2,700 years!
• Uringen (4 pages): Adam Daigle’s baby, a fun concept of a town partially “unstuck” in a pocket dimension. Great place for adventures that players haven’t seen before.
As indicated above, the quality of the entries varies, with some really great ideas and some fairly generic ones. Although the cover art is great, the interior art is very much a mixed bag. The bullet point on the back cover about “New feats, spells, class abilities, and poisons” is literally true but hyperbolically misleading—this is *not* a crunch book, with only a handful of player options throughout. In one respect, however, this is good: with the launch of Pathfinder Second Edition, this book is just as valuable as it was in First Edition.
All in all, I’d say this was a solid, average Paizo book. I wouldn’t rush out to buy it, but I certainly don’t regret owning it either. Obviously, those running something like Kingmaker or other campaigns set in the River Kingdoms will find it indispensable.
Trying not to replicate the other reviews, this campaign setting is exactly that - a sketch of many different cities and city-states within a loosely defined country. The locations are creatively detailed, with the intent to provide a HUGE variety of rulers to parlay with as players build their own domain during the Kingmaker campaign. For that it works brilliantly! There are regions to trade with, city-states to provide problems for the new PC rulers, leaders to ally with, and locations to be explored. As I read through this sourcebook cover to cover (despite often finding it difficult to stay engaged with other PDFs), I couldn't help but think about the possibilities for many of the areas.
Admittedly, as many of the other reviewers stated, this is light on crunch. If you are interested in stats, stay away from this product as there are only two gods with basic worshipper info, 5 new poisons, 1 spell, 1 alternate bard class ability, 1 region affinity, and 1 magic salve in the 32 pages. However, the nature of the sandbox campaign compliments Paizo's approach with this product: giving a huge range of idea-generating options for the GM to flesh out. The only thing I found wanting is the region to the east, immediately abutting the Stolen Lands, was not detailed as much as the other areas surrounding the campaign. However, that being said, if you are going to play Kingmaker I think the number and variety of kernels of adventure-generating encounters far outweighs that gripe.
This is a somewhat strange campaign setting book, in the sense it seems not only is the various regions described in the book very different (from very regular fantasy tropes and/or very real world inspired) to the very fantastic... But how they are described also varies so much, because the authors do their pieces in very different ways.
For example, one region might have a city statblock, a lot of info on people there that can be usefull and inspiring, written in an entertaining way... While at least one other is pretty much "there are these guys guarding something but I won't tell you much about either" over three pages.
I found some of the articles in the book excellent, some average and some bad. As there is something to every taste here (except crunch, this is pretty much pure fluff), I guess that would be true for most people too.
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.
I have a pathfinder chronicles subscription, but this pdf isn't available in my downloads section. Are you guys getting copies early because you're all contributors, or do I need to contact tech support?
-Ken
As others have said it takes a few days till everyone gets theirs. It seems pretty random on the order unless you have a rare order aka non standard stuff coming in your order. That puts you near the back which is where I am this time... again. So I doubt I see mine till tomorrow or maybe not even till Monday.
I've seen a few threads in the customer service area in regards to the issues. It seems that folks are having to either redownload the PDF or reinstall Adobe, but it's been successful in clearing the issue for most of the folks it seems.
Neil Spicer
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2009, RPG Superstar Judgernaut
Apparently (and sadly), I'm not dialed in as a contributor who can download a PDF copy. And my developer is somewhere in "snowy" Colorado. Anyone at Paizo capable of hooking a brother up? Please?
Hey, if y'all're hooking Neil up, add me to that list. :)
Jason Nelson
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
I DLed this and scanned through it, and went to read the section I did cuz it's always interesting to see what happens during editing. The lead art piece for Lambreth is terrific; I LOVE it.
Sadly, however, I realized that I apparently forgot to send in a little 100-word thumbnail blurb to go on that front cover page, so instead your exciting introduction to Lambreth reads like page 27 of a geography textbook. Alas!
Still, the book is terrific and I hope everybody enjoys.
China Miéville?! Wow. Not a name I was expecting. I'm excited to hear Paizo and China have hooked up! His fiction has been one of my favorite discoveries of the last couple years. Can't wait to see what he does here. And, of course, all the rest of you awesome authors. :-)
I've seen a few threads in the customer service area in regards to the issues. It seems that folks are having to either redownload the PDF or reinstall Adobe, but it's been successful in clearing the issue for most of the folks it seems.
Ouch! Reader, sure. Full version, not going to happen. Repersonalizing ... and crossing my fingers.
Adam Daigle! You strike again with the coolness factor!
China Miéville rocked the house with his stuff, sure enough, but he's not the only one who took a road less traveled!
For those who haven't yet gotten the PDF, Adam has an awesomely cool town called Uringen.. that fades in and out of existence! Very Brigadoon style (only much more usable in a campaign than Brigadoon would be).
Thumbs up for extreme cleverness!
Now I can see why when I mentioned that one of the example sighting of a Hound of Tindalous was in the River Kingdoms you were smacking yourself in the forehead. It would have been a perfect fit.
So far this is one spectatular PDF, can't wait for the print copy to arrive.
Back in my Forgotten Realms days I always loved tracking down lors on their "Border Kingdoms" and ran my share of one-shots and mini campaigns in this sandbox-style region.
Kingmaker is going to be so much more with this as a source!
To be fair, I just expanded on the few sentences in the Campaign Setting, so the idea was already partially in place by the author of that section. I just fattened it up a bit and gave it a little more life.
I can't wait to get my copy to see how it turned out.
The "one file per chapter" version is missing the inside cover... which is the map... :)
It's there!. The cover file is two pages—page 1 is a spread containing the front and back covers, and page 2 is a spread of the inside front and inside back covers.
Yeh, great work all involved..I read Neil Spicers one page set up for Artume and the whole place clicked into place immediately.
Regent Waike is Basil Rathbone
Otoniel Marks is Errol Flynn
Proto Arthurian /Robin Hood hijinks in the greenwood...ohhh the opportunities are so interesting.
Neil Spicer
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2009, RPG Superstar Judgernaut
DM Wellard wrote:
...I read Neil Spicers one page set up for Artume and the whole place clicked into place immediately....Proto Arthurian /Robin Hood hijinks in the greenwood...ohhh the opportunities are so interesting....
Cool connections!
I didn't necessarily strive for all that. But I often do draw inspiration from other stories, myths, and legends to weave storylines or narratives with similar elements to them. Hey, if it worked for something viewed as a classic or fantasy staple, why not tap that well again?
Beyond just the Arthurian or Robin Hood possibilities, I also tried to channel a little Three Musketeers mojo for possibilities with supporting the queen-in-hiding and her would-be-king-someday son. Of course, all that goes to pot if Artume falls before such plans come to fruition. But, that's what heroes are for, right?
I think I put this on my wish list here on Paizo. This is tempting for me. I still am waiting to see what this Kingmaker AP will be like. Council of Thieves has been alright but not great.
This would have been just about perfect if the cartographer and a few of the authors could agree on which way is east (see Mossriver and Scrawny Crossing in particular). Made it a tad difficult to check locations when flipping between the map and the text.
Is the information in this guide PC friendly if you were to run Kingmaker when it comes out?
One thing that confuses me about this guide is I thought it was going to be the equivalent of what "Pathfinder Companion: Cheliax, Empire of Devils" was for the Council of Thieves AP. But this is a Chronicles and that was a companion, so I'm unsure.
How is this guide intended to be used with the Kingmaker AP (if at all) can anyone clear up my confusion? Thank you much.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Draznar wrote:
One thing that confuses me about this guide is I thought it was going to be the equivalent of what "Pathfinder Companion: Cheliax, Empire of Devils" was for the Council of Thieves AP. But this is a Chronicles and that was a companion, so I'm unsure.
It's more analogous to the relationship between Guide to Korvosa (also a Chronicles product) and the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP. The difference being that, in theory at least, the Chronicles products are aimed at GMs and the Companions at players. That said, sometimes the line gets a little blurry.
I've not read the Guide to the River Kingdoms cover to cover yet so I can't comment specifically on what player-unfriendly info may be contained, though I do recall that there is a sidebar in the section on the Stolen Lands talking about the connections to the AP.
Is the information in this guide PC friendly if you were to run Kingmaker when it comes out?
One thing that confuses me about this guide is I thought it was going to be the equivalent of what "Pathfinder Companion: Cheliax, Empire of Devils" was for the Council of Thieves AP. But this is a Chronicles and that was a companion, so I'm unsure.
How is this guide intended to be used with the Kingmaker AP (if at all) can anyone clear up my confusion? Thank you much.
In general, the Chronicles products aren't very player friendly. They tend to have spoilers galore . Occassionally, like in the Guide to Korvosa, we managed to keep those in the back in a GM spoiler section, but most of the time, they are sprinkled throughout.
For the APs, we have taken to making free Player's Guides that can be downloaded on our website. The Kingmaker one will be available when Pathfinder #31 releases in a few weeks. It should give your players what they need to play in the campaign.
Guide to the River Kingdoms is not essential at all for playing in Kingmaker, though it might really help a GM whose players want to roam around the rest of the River Kingdoms. There are some really neat little kingdoms that will be near where they are, so it might add some depth to the campaign. Also, they might want to go shopping in some of the bigger cities in the River Kingdoms unless they want to go back up to Brevoy, which might make more sense.
Well, my copy said, "Shinmizu is an ugly buttface." What's strange is that it was in my handwriting, but I don't remember writing anything of the sort.
I guess the most likely possibility is that I'm really Lisa, since it was written in her article. I really don't look like a Lisa, though. I'll have to talk with my parents about that.
For the APs, we have taken to making free Player's Guides that can be downloaded on our website. The Kingmaker one will be available when Pathfinder #31 releases in a few weeks. It should give your players what they need to play in the campaign.
I hope this helps!
-Lisa
Thank you Lisa, that does help answer my question there. However, it also prompts a follow-up question.
I was under the impression that Paizo was no longer doing player's guides and were instead printing supplements in the Companion line to replace them. But I guess I was mis informed?
If Council of Thieves AP has both "Pathfinder Companion: Cheliax, Empire of Devils" & its free Player's Guide to supplement its AP, and future Serpent's Skull AP has both "Pathfinder Companion: Sargava, the Lost Colony" & its free Player's Guide to supplement its AP, why does Kingmaker break this formula? Is it merely just due to scheduling? IE. No space in the Companion line so print something in Chronicles as an alternative?
Is there actually a guideline / formula for APs and their supplements, or is that just a large misconception on my part?
I was under the impression that Paizo was no longer doing player's guides and were instead printing supplements in the Companion line to replace them. But I guess I was mis informed?
If Council of Thieves AP has both "Pathfinder Companion: Cheliax, Empire of Devils" & its free Player's Guide to supplement its AP, and future Serpent's Skull AP has both "Pathfinder Companion: Sargava, the Lost Colony" & its free Player's Guide to supplement its AP, why does Kingmaker break this formula? Is it merely just due to scheduling? IE. No space in the Companion line so print something in Chronicles as an alternative?
Is there actually a guideline / formula for APs and their supplements, or is that just a large misconception on my part?
We decided to finally divorce the AP Player Guides from the Companion line well after we'd already started work on the Cheliax guide. As a result, that still feels a little bit muddled and murky in focus; there WAS a Council of Thieves Player's Guide, but it was a free PDF. The fact that it came out basically on the same day as the Cheliax Player's Guide was just a ripple effect form the fact that, when the Cheliax guide was originally concepted, it was the Council of Thieves guide.
For Serpent's Skull, there's going to be a free PDF Player's Guide, but the corresponding release in the Player's Companion line is "Orcs of Golarion," which really has nothing to do with Serpent's Skull at all (unless a PC is playing an orc or half orc, I guess). The Sargava companion actually comes out a few months BEFORE Serpent's Skull starts... and the Serpent's Skull AP only spends about 1/2 of one adventure (the 2nd one) actually IN Sargava.
And Kingmaker, of course, is the first AP after Council of Thieves, and thus the first one to coincide with the new direction for the Companion line.
I dig the art for Mivon. Is the sword the guy on the left has an Aldori dueling sword? And what's the big sword? Just a really cool greatsword or something else entirely?
I just noticed that one of the Authors is China Miéville, how often does he work on Pathfinder products? I ask because he happens to be one of my favorite authors. Ever since Dragon did the spread on Perdido Street Station I have been a huge fan.
I just noticed that one of the Authors is China Miéville, how often does he work on Pathfinder products? I ask because he happens to be one of my favorite authors. Ever since Dragon did the spread on Perdido Street Station I have been a huge fan.
I think this was his only occasion. I don't want to put words in Erik Mona's mouth, but I got the impression from something Erik said that China Miéville wrote his section for fun. As opposed to a burning need for work.. because he enjoys role-playing games in real life.
This remark stemmed from a question regarding if China Miéville would now write a Pathfinder novel, and Erik was saying Miéville's own critically acclaimed publishing success puts him out of Paizo's league. Sort of like asking Stephen King write a Pathfinder novel..
So I assume Miéville made the time to write a section of River Kingdoms out his love for the game.
My assumptions might be incorrect, but they're offered in good faith.
Any chance of a large River Kingdoms map like the map in Guide to Darkmoon Vale? With an area this large and detailed, the little map inside the front cover isn't as useful, espeically when trying to use it in game.
Any chance of a large River Kingdoms map like the map in Guide to Darkmoon Vale? With an area this large and detailed, the little map inside the front cover isn't as useful, espeically when trying to use it in game.
I'd love a map of just the natural terrain and permanent features on a flipmat. Would be awesome for Kingmaker if we're going to be rearranging the borders and rename things.
Any chance of a large River Kingdoms map like the map in Guide to Darkmoon Vale? With an area this large and detailed, the little map inside the front cover isn't as useful, espeically when trying to use it in game.
We're unlikely to be offering a giant River Kingdoms map anytime in the near future, but we WILL be doing a pretty close-up map of one region—the Stolen Lands—in the Kingmaker Adventure Path. This is a swath of land that's about the same size (but not the same shape, obviously) as Maine that runs along the northeastern border of the River Kingdoms between Pitax and Brevoy, and over the course of the six Kingmaker adventures (which ALL take place in this area) we'll be presenting four full page maps of this region for the PCs to explore and conquer.
Kingmaker won't be changing borders or renaming much in the River Kingdoms, in any event... but there'll be a good chance of SOME of that as regards Pitax and the Stolen Lands...
I just noticed that one of the Authors is China Miéville, how often does he work on Pathfinder products? I ask because he happens to be one of my favorite authors. Ever since Dragon did the spread on Perdido Street Station I have been a huge fan.
I think this was his only occasion. I don't want to put words in Erik Mona's mouth, but I got the impression from something Erik said that China Miéville wrote his section for fun. As opposed to a burning need for work.. because he enjoys role-playing games in real life.
This remark stemmed from a question regarding if China Miéville would now write a Pathfinder novel, and Erik was saying Miéville's own critically acclaimed publishing success puts him out of Paizo's league. Sort of like asking Stephen King write a Pathfinder novel..
So I assume Miéville made the time to write a section of River Kingdoms out his love for the game.
My assumptions might be incorrect, but they're offered in good faith.
Watcher is correct. China was kind enough to invent Outsea for us out of a love for his own gaming roots, combined with the fact that he's generally an awesome guy. He also worked with us to stat up Outsea's ceratioidi race for the bestiary in Pathfinder #32, but so far those are his only direct contributions to the world of Golarion, though he's also been involved in the Planet Stories line, both writing an introduction for The Walrus and the Warwolf and giving me his first-ever story (and a really fun, in-depth interview) for Before They Were Giants.
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
gigglestick wrote:
Any chance of a large River Kingdoms map like the map in Guide to Darkmoon Vale? With an area this large and detailed, the little map inside the front cover isn't as useful, espeically when trying to use it in game.
We're unlikely to be offering a giant River Kingdoms map anytime in the near future, but we WILL be doing a pretty close-up map of one region—the Stolen Lands—in the Kingmaker Adventure Path.
Really? I would think a poster of the River Kingdoms would be great for the Map Folio.
Any chance of a large River Kingdoms map like the map in Guide to Darkmoon Vale? With an area this large and detailed, the little map inside the front cover isn't as useful, espeically when trying to use it in game.
We're unlikely to be offering a giant River Kingdoms map anytime in the near future, but we WILL be doing a pretty close-up map of one region—the Stolen Lands—in the Kingmaker Adventure Path.
Really? I would think a poster of the River Kingdoms would be great for the Map Folio.
The Map Folio for Kingmaker will likely include poster maps of the Stolen Lands... but again, since Kingmaker takes place almost entirely in the Stolen Lands and a little bit in Pitax, a poster map of the entire River Kingdoms wouldn't make any sense for that Map Folio at all.
Given the preliminary description of the Inner Sea Map Folio, I imagine the portion covering the River Kingdoms will be both large (as will the whole map) and detailed.
Given the preliminary description of the Inner Sea Map Folio, I imagine the portion covering the River Kingdoms will be both large (as will the whole map) and detailed.
As will the map of the Azlanti Kingdom of Golarion Knowledge, More Land.
As will the map of the Azlanti Kingdom of Golarion Knowledge, More Land.
Make puns about my name and risk not getting turnovers you're counting on, Frost. I'm not afraid to debunk your misconceptions of holding all the power.